Locals up in arms against new shanties over nullah

Yet again, around 20 illegal shanties are being built to create a new slum on a nullah behind Rang Sharada Hotel in Bandra Reclamation. Locals and activists complained to the civic body and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) on Tuesday, demanding immediate action.

“The shanties are being built since Sunday night and there is debris kept near the nullah. If it is not cleared, it will lead to water-logging during the monsoon in areas like Chapel Road, Bazar Road and Bandra Reclamation among others,” former local corporator Rehbar Khan said.

Khan further said that the same slum lords who encroached upon the MSRDC plot behind Nargis Dutt Nagar slum were taking over this plot. “But the police are neither initiating any action nor it registering an FIR,” he said.

In December last year, around 300 shanties came up on a government plot on Bandra Reclamation. The shanties were demolished immediately after the residents took up the matter with the chief minister.  

Chairperson of H West Federation, Anandini Thakoor said, “Slums coming up in the area every day seems like vote-bank politics. We will pursue the issue to ensure that the shanties are demolished and don’t come up again.”

A senior official from the H (West) ward office said, “As the plot does not belong to us, we have written to the MSRDC about it. We are ready to provide the necessary manpower and machinery if needed,” a senior official said.

MSRDC authorities said compound walls are being constructed to ensure that their plots are not encroached upon.  “We will visit the site on Wednesday to decide on a further course of action,” an MSRDC official said.

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