The Indian Express             29.11.2013

BMC starts shifting survivors to Byculla

Acceding to the requests of survivors of the Dockyard Road building collapse, BMC has acquired 19 flats from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority's Simplex Mills property in Byculla and commenced the process of shifting them from its transit camp in Ghatkopar.

Sixteen families had already moved into the flats in the transit camp.

"One family has already been shifted to the Simplex Mills flat in Byculla. We have already deposited Rs 30 lakh as rent to MHADA for three years. We will take care of the maintenance costs of the building as well," additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar said Thursday.

The BMC has also decided to construct a residential structure on the site near Dockyard Road railway station where the four-storey Babu Genu market building stood before it collapsed on September 27. The other commercial buildings on the same plot will also undergo redevelopment soon, civic officials said.

"We have declared them as dangerous and have evacuated five tenants from there. We are looking for an alternate location for the shopkeepers on the ground floor," a senior civic official said.

According to the BMC, a total of Rs 1.29 crore has been disbursed as compensation to the kin of 53 of the victims who died in the collapse.

The Indian Express             29.11.2013

After PWD, BMC evicts tribals from Mankhurd

A week after the state's Public Works Department (PWD) evicted over 50 homeless families belonging to Masanjogi community, a denotified nomadic tribe, from a footpath in Mankhurd, the civic administration conducted another eviction drive in the same area Thursday.

The community members alleged the police assaulted them and some students of Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS) who tried restraining the police.

Assistant municipal commissioner of the local ward, Kiran Dighavkar, said, "The families that had been evicted by the PWD last week moved to the opposite pavement, which is not in the jurisdiction of PWD. We had to remove them as they were encroaching the footpath illegally."

Dighavkar said the action was taken after residents of the housing society along the road complained of nuisance due to these people.

The tribal families have been living on the footpaths of Neetu Manke Road near Agarwadi in Mankhurd for the past two years, said a senior civic official.

"A few months ago, we removed them from one side of the pavement after which they shifted to the opposite side. They are continuing to occupy either side of the road although both PWD and BMC have previously given them warnings to evict these footpaths," said a senior civic official.

"Despite the demands from these families, we cannot allow them alternate accommodation as they do not have any proof of residing in the area before 1995, which is the cut-off year for providing alternate accommodation to homeless," said Dighavkar.

However, the tribal families alleged that BMC officials burnt their ration cards, voter ID cards and UID cards. "We have nowhere to go. We have lived here for over two decades," said Ram Chandra, one of the tribals.

A few tribals and students of TISS were taken to Trombay police station, where they were detained till late evening. "The police beat up a few students too," said Alia Farooqui, a student.

It was only after TISS director Dr S Parshuraman went to the police station that those detained were released.

"The BMC along with the Trombay police reached Agarwadi area in Mankhurd without any eviction notice. We have now shifted the tribals to TISS campus," said Dr Parsuraman.

This is the third time the Tribals have been evicted from the area.

Meanwhile, taking suo motu congisance of a report in Newsline on November 20 regarding PWD evicting the tribal families, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has sent a notice to the PWD and BMC.

"We have evicted the families as they were illegally occupying the footpaths. We are not aware of any SHRC inquiry into the matter," said Dighavkar.