Mumbai: Residents of more than 12 settlements along the railway tracks from Kurla to Vashi Naka have won a halt to the demolition of their homes, according to the Jan Haq Sangharsh Samiti, after thousands of residents — mostly women, children and young people — sat on the road outside the Collector's office for an entire day on November 4.

Source: Maktoob Media

The protest was against the Railways' move, following a Bombay High Court order, to demolish 3,762 houses built on railway land. A day after the sit-in, the Deputy Chief Minister, the Collector and Railway officials agreed to the protesters' demands, stayed the demolition and promised a house-for-a-house policy, the Samiti said. According to the Samiti, the Chief Minister ordered Railway officials and the Collector, in front of the settlements' leadership, to stop the demolition.

The Samiti, however, said the struggle is not over: the order to stop the demolition has not yet been made public in writing, and no concrete decision has been taken on rehabilitation. It said it is keeping its mobilisation ready because the High Court's order has not been changed and the court is on holiday until November 18. Those cautions are the Samiti's own assessment, reported here as its statement.

3,762Homes on railway land facing demolition, Kurla to Vashi Naka
12+Settlements that joined the November 4 sit-in
4 NovDate of the day-long protest outside the Collector's office

In a related official step reported a day earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday directed the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) to submit a Detailed Project Report on the rehabilitation of slum dwellers living along the railway tracks from Kurla to Trombay, Hindustan Times reported. The dwellers had been served eviction notices about two months earlier.

Source: Hindustan Times via Etleboro

Background: in October, the Bombay High Court cleared Central Railway to remove unauthorised hutments in the safety zone along the Kurla-Trombay line, while directing fresh 30-day notices, documentation of families by the Mumbai Suburban Collector, ex-gratia of Rs 2,000 a month for six months for each demolished structure, and exploration of rehabilitation for eligible families, the Free Press Journal reported. What happens next depends on whether the stay the Samiti describes is issued in writing and how the SRA rehabilitation report is framed.