Mangesh Khopde, 31, was hospitalised on November 14, after he suffered a psychotic breakdown, within days of the demolition of his house in Ramnagar, Ghatkopar.
Mangesh Khopde, 31, was hospitalised on November 14, after he suffered a psychotic breakdown, within days of the demolition of his house in Ramnagar, Ghatkopar. His house is one among many that have been brought down for a massive slum rehabilitation scheme that is being undertaken by Satra Developers.
He was screaming and lashed out at friends, who took him to Sion Hospital, where he had to be strapped down before given electroshock therapy. Khopde has been on medication for his psychological condition for some time, and his condition had normalized.
His friends say that when his house was demolished on November 9, he also lost most of his belongings, which included his prescriptions. Khopde finds it difficult to recall the exact sequence of events that happened on the day of the demolition. But he is clear that he would prefer to continue to live in his shanty house instead of moving into a building, which will have higher maintenance.
This has been a battle between some residents in the 18 societies in Ramnagar for some years now after the project was first mooted in 2006. There have been allegations of malpractices with regard to the process and even charges of forgery in taking consent from the residents.
One such complaint was lodged by Prabhakar Shetty, a resident of Sinhagad society, in July 2009, alleging malpractices in the way the developer was handling the project, undemocratic functioning by the Ramnagar Residents’ Co-operative Federation, and even forgery to secure the residents’ consent.
His letters are one of several documents that Right to Information activist Sandeep Yeole has got from the slum rehabilitation authority. One letter alleges that Satra Developers was brought in by Shankar Mahadik, who is also a Nationalist Congress Party worker. “To start with the development work, the developer needs to send a letter of interest to the federation and the societies involved. Mahadik however made no such insistence for the letter and allowed the developers to begin the surveys.” Shetty also says that as president of Sinhagad society he asked for additional information, but did not get any.
After raising these objections over the past few years, strangely, residents say that during the recent demolitions Prabhakar Shetty was seen pushing people out of their houses and even abusing them.
The developer, Praful Satra, says that he always had the majority consent for the project and that some residents who were protesting earlier had started to accept the developer.
Some residents talk about receiving calls from the developer’s office to collect cheque payments, especially from Prabhakar Shetty, who they feel has been bought off. “But once the home was broken down, he started to taunt us, saying we should have just taken the cheque,” says Sheetal Khopde, the wife of Mangesh.
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