Six years after their homes were demolished to pave way for the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road project,about 180 families from Powai are still living in a transit camp in Wadala. Most of them are yet to receive a certificate establishing their eligibility for permanent accommodation although they claim they have submitted the required documents. The residents belong to Milind Nagar in Powai,a part of which was reclaimed for the link road. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) had to relocate 1,400 families for the construction of the road,providing the much needed east-west connectivity. The authorities shifted half the families to permanent homes in Dindoshi and told us we will be shifted to a transit camp and will receive permanent homes in 40 days, said Asha Sonawane,who had been a resident of Milind Nagar for over 30 years. Sonawane said her family had first received a notice in 1993 and was asked to submit proof of residence and other supporting documents to decide whether the family was eligible for rehabilitation by the MMRDA. My mother was suffering from paralysis so we were all busy attending to her and did not submit the documents on time,so they declared us ineligible. We went to the authorities later with our documents and have been going to them for the past seven-eight years,but all they say is they will look into it, said Sonawne,showing her original documents. Another resident Vimlabai Kalyani had not received any certificate about her familys eligibility despite submitting all the documents,including a voters identity card showing she was a resident of Milind Nagar before 1995. I am tired of visiting the MMRDA office. They tell us they will visit us,examine our documents and give us permanent homes,but nobody has ever come to us till now, she said. I am not saying all the families will be eligible,but many of us certainly are. The MMRDA said so far the rehabilitation of people from the Milind Nagar area has been mired in confusion. Earlier,we had decided to evict people from the entire area,but later we realised that wouldnt be necessary,as a result there are many families who are still living in their homes in Milind Nagar. Some have transit camp homes as well as their original homes,while others are living in the transit camps,awaiting permanent homes, Additional Metropolitan Commissioner Ashwini Bhide said. We have already started the process of looking into it and will look at all these families on a case by case basis, he added.
