Pune's Padalvasti residents get a stay on eviction

The court of joint civil judge (senior division), AN Mare, on Saturday has ordered a stay on the eviction of residents from the Padalvasti slum off Aundh Road in Khadki. The stay will continue till eviction notice served by the army authorities is disposed of.

The army had served a notice on slum dwellers in Padalvasti to vacate the land in April. The army had claimed that the land on which the slum is located was defence land and the slum was an illegal encroachment.

DNA in its report (Luxury homes project threatens public reservations in Bopodi, May 25) had reported that a large portion of the Padalvasti land was under the reservation for housing for economically weaker section of the society (EWS). It has been the demand of the slum dwellers that the PMC acquire the said land and construct housing for them, before displacing them.

Following DNA's extensive reportage about the matter, municipal commissioner, Mahesh Pathak, had ordered for acquiring the land on July 7. At present, the administrative formalities of the same are underway. The Padalvasti slums are located near the upcoming super luxurious project of Avinash Bhosale Infrastructure limited (ABIL)'s Castel Royale.