Hundreds face heat, uncertainty as bulldozers roll through Mumbai's Garib Nagar
Hundreds of residents in Mumbai's Garib Nagar have been left homeless after Western Railway launched a demolition drive on Tuesday to clear illegal structures near Bandra East railway station, with many residents claiming they were given only 24 hours to retrieve their belongings.
Under the harsh May sun, an elderly man, Mohammad Hanif stands beside the few belongings he managed to salvage from his home - mats, a refrigerator and other household items now stacked along the roadside. Nearby, his son and daughter-in-law shield themselves with an umbrella while guarding what remains of their life’s possessions.
Hanif, who says he has lived in Mumbai’s Garib Nagar, which is undergoing a large-scale demolition drive near railway land in Bandra East, for nearly four decades, recalls a very different time - when former Member of Parliament Sunil Dutt physically intervened to stop a demolition drive in the settlement.
“My house was among nearly 100 homes protected by the High Court. It has not been demolished completely, but it is severely damaged. I don’t know what we will do now. The monsoon will start in a few days,” Hanif says.
Remembering the earlier demolition attempt, he adds, “There was a time when bulldozers had come here, but Sunil Dutt sahab just lied down in front of the bulldozer and said that if the demolition had to happen, the bulldozer would have to pass over his body first. The demolition did not happen then.”
The demolition drive at Garib Nagar, launched by Western Railway on Tuesday morning, has displaced hundreds of residents, many of whom claim they were given only 24 hours to retrieve their belongings. The five-day operation targets nearly 500 illegal structures in the slum adjoining Bandra East railway station.
Tension briefly escalated as residents protested what they described as a sudden eviction drive, with several families seen sitting beside belongings scattered across nearby pavements.
Hundreds of railway personnel, including teams from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP) and engineering departments, were deployed along with JCBs and forklift for the exercise.
Two days on, several families, despite the uncertainty, continue to hope they will eventually be allowed to return to the settlement they have called home for decades.
Men, women and children gathered under the limited shade provided by the railway foot overbridge say police personnel were repeatedly asking them to move away from the area.
Among them was an elderly woman who earns a living selling handkerchiefs on the railway foot overbridge and has spent most of her life in Garib Nagar. Having lost her husband and watched her children settle into families of their own, she says she now has nowhere to go.
“I remember when Sunil Dutt did not allow bulldozers to come over our homes. Even his daughter Priya Dutt helped us all. If she had come now, perhaps our homes could have been saved,” she recalls.
Nearby, a group of women criticised the authorities, saying the government was “not removing poverty, but removing the poor.” Around them lay heaps of twisted metal sheets and broken structures, remnants of homes that had sheltered families until May 19, now being gathered and sold to scrap dealers as residents searched through debris for their last remaining belongings.
A significant portion of Garib Nagar is situated on 1.31 acres of railway land adjacent to the tracks near Bandra Terminus. The railway authorities plan to redevelop the land as part of a larger integrated station complex project aimed at expanding Bandra Terminus with additional platforms, upgraded infrastructure, relocation of maintenance facilities and increased passenger-handling capacity.
The settlement has existed for decades, with earlier attempts at eviction facing legal challenges and prolonged court proceedings.
Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Vineet Abhishek said nearly 50 trains currently originate from Mumbai, while there is a need for at least 50 more to meet passenger demand. “For this, Bandra Terminus needs to be expanded,” he said.
Abhishek also said that the Garib Nagar settlements had expanded dangerously close to railway tracks and overhead electric equipment (OHE) masts, posing a serious safety hazard that necessitated their removal.
Railway officials said the area would be fenced by May 23 following the demolition to prevent squatters from returning.
Under the harsh May sun, an elderly man, Mohammad Hanif stands beside the few belongings he managed to salvage from his home - mats, a refrigerator and other household items now stacked along the roadside. Nearby, his son and daughter-in-law shield themselves with an umbrella while guarding what remains of their life’s possessions.
Hanif, who says he has lived in Mumbai’s Garib Nagar, which is undergoing a large-scale demolition drive near railway land in Bandra East, for nearly four decades, recalls a very different time - when former Member of Parliament Sunil Dutt physically intervened to stop a demolition drive in the settlement.
“My house was among nearly 100 homes protected by the High Court. It has not been demolished completely, but it is severely damaged. I don’t know what we will do now. The monsoon will start in a few days,” Hanif says.
Remembering the earlier demolition attempt, he adds, “There was a time when bulldozers had come here, but Sunil Dutt sahab just lied down in front of the bulldozer and said that if the demolition had to happen, the bulldozer would have to pass over his body first. The demolition did not happen then.”
The demolition drive at Garib Nagar, launched by Western Railway on Tuesday morning, has displaced hundreds of residents, many of whom claim they were given only 24 hours to retrieve their belongings. The five-day operation targets nearly 500 illegal structures in the slum adjoining Bandra East railway station.
Tension briefly escalated as residents protested what they described as a sudden eviction drive, with several families seen sitting beside belongings scattered across nearby pavements.
Hundreds of railway personnel, including teams from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Government Railway Police (GRP) and engineering departments, were deployed along with JCBs and forklift for the exercise.
Two days on, several families, despite the uncertainty, continue to hope they will eventually be allowed to return to the settlement they have called home for decades.
Men, women and children gathered under the limited shade provided by the railway foot overbridge say police personnel were repeatedly asking them to move away from the area.
Among them was an elderly woman who earns a living selling handkerchiefs on the railway foot overbridge and has spent most of her life in Garib Nagar. Having lost her husband and watched her children settle into families of their own, she says she now has nowhere to go.
“I remember when Sunil Dutt did not allow bulldozers to come over our homes. Even his daughter Priya Dutt helped us all. If she had come now, perhaps our homes could have been saved,” she recalls.
Nearby, a group of women criticised the authorities, saying the government was “not removing poverty, but removing the poor.” Around them lay heaps of twisted metal sheets and broken structures, remnants of homes that had sheltered families until May 19, now being gathered and sold to scrap dealers as residents searched through debris for their last remaining belongings.
A significant portion of Garib Nagar is situated on 1.31 acres of railway land adjacent to the tracks near Bandra Terminus. The railway authorities plan to redevelop the land as part of a larger integrated station complex project aimed at expanding Bandra Terminus with additional platforms, upgraded infrastructure, relocation of maintenance facilities and increased passenger-handling capacity.
The settlement has existed for decades, with earlier attempts at eviction facing legal challenges and prolonged court proceedings.
Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Vineet Abhishek said nearly 50 trains currently originate from Mumbai, while there is a need for at least 50 more to meet passenger demand. “For this, Bandra Terminus needs to be expanded,” he said.
Abhishek also said that the Garib Nagar settlements had expanded dangerously close to railway tracks and overhead electric equipment (OHE) masts, posing a serious safety hazard that necessitated their removal.
Railway officials said the area would be fenced by May 23 following the demolition to prevent squatters from returning.
