Mumbai: 250 hutments in SVP Nagar face BMC's axe

Officials of the suburban collector's office and K-west ward will continue the demolition drive on Saturday as well; huge portion of mangroves destroyed by squatters

On Thursday, officials of the suburban collector's office and the K-west ward of BMC started a major demolition drive behind Sardar Vallabhai Patel (SVP) Nagar in Andheri West, in order to clear the area of the hutments that have illegally come up over the years. In the last two days, the team has removed 250 hutments from the land owned by the collector's office and as per sources, the drive would continue on Saturday as well.

A huge portion of the mangrove forest in the area was destroyed to develop the settlement

Residents feel threatened
People residing in the housing societies close to the hutments have often complained of how a huge portion of the mangrove forest in the area was destroyed to develop the settlement. They also said that if action had not been taken, then the remaining trees would also have been cut down.

Speaking to mid-day, a resident said, "I started residing in the area in 2004. Since then, a huge portion of the mangrove forest has been destroyed to set up the hutments. The people staying in them cause a lot of nuisance and are also involved in criminal activities like thefts and physical assaults. It's good that the hutments have been demolished, but the authorities should put up a barbed wire fencing so that the settlement doesn't come up again."

Party workers raise issue
Meanwhile, sources said that the action was taken after local BJP corporator Rohan Rathod and local BJP party worker Siddhesh Shinde raised the issue with the suburban district collector's
office.

When contacted, Rathod said, "The illegal hutments that had come up on the mangrove patch behind SVP Nagar were causing a lot of inconvenience for the local residents. Hence, we discussed the matter with the collector and with the help of the local police, started the demolition drive on Thursday. About 250 hutments have been removed. The drive will continue on Saturday as well."

He has also asked the concerned officials to ensure that the settlement does not come up again. Pradip Kamble, BMC executive engineer from K-west ward, told mid-day, "The demolition drive is in progress and will continue on Saturday too. We are removing the hutments with the help of police and officials of the local ward office."

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