Darukhana residents resist demolition of their homes

The notice, dated April 15, said, “The said unauthorised and illegal encroachment on the premises causing obstruction/encroachment and nuisance is also a security threat.”

Citing recent court directives, the MbPA said if the encroachments were not cleared in seven days, the authority would demolish the structures, selling of the valuables to recover the cost of the demolition.

After seven days, on April 22, the Sewri police followed up, informing the residents the demolition would be carried out on April 28 and 29. A prohibitory order was passed, outlawing the assembly of five or more persons together and warning against any action that would create a law and order situation.

So when the residents spotted an increasing police presence Tuesday morning, they knew what was coming. “Residents from all localities of Darukhana, over 400, crowded at the entrance junction at around 10am to stop the police or officials from getting through,” said Shanti Ravi, one of the residents served the notice. “Women, children, and men, all of us stood strong till almost 1pm, till the police retreated,” she said.

Despite the MbPA’s characterisation of the residents as illegal, the residents claim to be occupants of the area since 1995 and before. Many showed The Indian Express documents such as survey slips from 1990, names in the 1995 voter roll and ration cards.

“The residents initially settled in this area as they worked at the port. Later, even as work changed, their homes remained,” said Pia, an activist from the Jan Haqq Sangharsh Samiti which fights for housing rights.

Durai Raj, 46, a resident, said, “If the port authority considers us encroachments, why did it let us stay all these decades, with rights of vote, of electricity and water?”

An official from the MbPA said the authority would attempt the demolition again after 10 days, with a stronger police force. “The MbPA plans to clear all the encroachments from our land, including in Darukhana. On our land, which comes under the Central Government, the encroachers are not eligible for rehabilitation housing. The residents, however, do have the recourse of the courts available to them,” the official said.

Duraiya Retiwala, the residents’ lawyer, said, “The Mumbai Port Authority had initially leased out the land to the Bombay Sands Merchant Syndicate. But when sand extraction was outlawed in the 80s, the company left and became defunct. Many years later, the MbPA attempted the process of recovering the rents for the leased land from the slum dwellers and other occupants. Now, it has started the process to evict all the occupants for its plan of commercial exploitation of the area. But with no housing policy, it is not offering any rehabilitation housing for the residents.”

What changed this February was an order by the Estate Officer appointed by the MbPA, under the Public Premises Act (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants), 1971. The order allowed the MbPA, which comes under the Central Government, to demolish the encroachments after giving seven days’ notice.