In Pictures: Mumbai civic body removes over 1,400 huts on govt plot in Mankhurd

Hundreds of families were rendered homeless on Wednesday after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Mumbai suburban collectors office razed over 1,400 unauthorised shanties erected on a government land on Mankhurd along the Ghatkopar-Mulund Link Road, in a joint demolition drive (Source: Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

Situated along the Ghatkopar-Mulund Link, the government is eyeing to develop a 'Science Park' at the government land parcel (Source: Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

According to officials, for several years, the Bombay Soap Factory government land in Mankhurd had been occupied by illegal encroachment (Source: Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

In a bid to vacate the plot, the Additional Collector (Eastern Suburbs) - under section 50 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Act, 1966 issued directives to evict hutments on the Dabba Company government plot (Source: Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

In light of the orders, the BMC's M/East ward office pressed staffers along with assistant and junior engineers from the factory and building department to launch the demolition drive (Source: Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

The civic body pressed more than 200 staffers along with seven JCBs, 10 dumpers and three poclains on site (Source: Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

Sprawled over 22 acres, 1,400 shanties - mostly constructed using tin sheets - were razed to the ground by Wednesday afternoon (Source: Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

Rendered homeless, the hutment dwellers spent the day scouring through the debris of their erstwhile homes, in an attempt to retrieve their belongings (Source: Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

The demolition drive was overlooked by senior BMC officials through deployment of two drone cameras and police force (Source: Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

Officials said that despite identification of the illegal encroachments for over a decade, the demolition was delayed owing to administrative hurdles (Source: Photo by Amit Chakravarty)

The drive on Wednesday comes along the heels of a widespread eviction underway across the city, in a bid to remove unauthorised structures and hawkers from the streets (Source: Photo by Amit Chakravarty)