Two years on a footpath: BMC clears last homes of Jai Bhim Nagar in Powai

The demolition had drawn criticism at the time as it was carried out during the monsoon months, when slum demolitions are typically restricted under a government resolution.

An area behind Powai Plaza is seen which has been barricaded by Police due to an ongoing demolition work of illegal hutments, at Powai in Mumbai on 16 March 2026. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

Many families displaced in the 2024 drive moved to rented rooms or relatives’ homes in the vicinity. However, several residents chose to remain on the footpaths along Central Avenue Road and the adjoining 90-feet Road in Powai, erecting temporary shelters in the hope of retaining their claim to the land and potential rehabilitation benefits.

“They broke our homes and we made the road our home,” said Sachin, 25, who had been living with his parents and younger brother in the area since the demolition. “Now they have removed us from there as well.”

According to a report by the volunteer collective Sabki Library, Jai Bhim Nagar began as a migrant labour settlement in 1987, when workers were brought to the area during the early development of the Hiranandani Group township in Powai. Over the decades, the cluster grew into a community of domestic workers, daily wage labourers and students who had lived there for more than two decades.

After the 2024 demolitions, residents who remained on the roadside struggled with poor sanitation, mosquito infestations, lack of water supply and limited access to toilets while living under makeshift tarpaulin shelters.

An area behind Powai Plaza is seen which has been barricaded by Police due to an ongoing demolition work of illegal hutments, at Powai in Mumbai on 16 March 2026. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

Following the first demolition, residents approached the Bombay High Court with legal assistance arranged by Naseem Khan of the Indian National Congress. The petition led to the formation of a Special Investigation Team and an FIR against certain BMC and Hiranandani officials over the demolition process.

Despite this, court proceedings later stalled and little action followed in the FIR, according to activists working with the residents.

Meanwhile, volunteers and students from nearby colleges helped run a small community initiative, Sabki Library, within the settlement and repeatedly wrote to the civic body seeking basic facilities such as water supply and toilets for the displaced families.

An area behind Powai Plaza is seen which has been barricaded by Police due to an ongoing demolition work of illegal hutments, at Powai in Mumbai on 16 March 2026. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

The final removal of the settlement followed petitions filed in the Bombay High Court by neighbouring housing societies, Tivoli Cooperative Housing Society and Evita Cooperative Housing Society, in June 2025, and later by Beaumont HFSI Pre-Primary School and its principal Kalyani Patnaik, seeking action against what they described as encroachments.

Courts subsequently directed authorities to clear the remaining structures. “The residents took their struggle to court and argued that the demolition was illegal, but the judiciary ultimately declared them encroachers and ordered their removal,” said Tejaswin, a volunteer associated with Sabki Library and a student at Dr Ambedkar College of Law.

In August last year, authorities had cleared the first batch of residents still living along Central Avenue Road. Monday’s drive targeted the last remaining families, largely migrant workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, who had continued living in temporary shelters along the 90-feet Road.

With the demolitions completed, Jai Bhim Nagar, a settlement that existed in Powai for nearly four decades, has now been fully removed.