After demolition renders 15 families homeless, residents claim they received the notice only a day before the municipal corporation sent its workers to tear down top floor of the Bandra building
The top floor of the four-storey building was demolished yesterday, rendering. Pics/Suresh Karkera
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"Where will I go now?" quizzed Farzana Shaikh, a housewife who resides in a rented flat on the third floor of Madani Manzil in Bandra West. Around 15 families were rendered homeless on Wednesday after the civic body demolished the top floor of the four-storey building near Bazaar road.
Packing her belongings, while her six-month-old daughter looked on, Farzana said, "Where will I take my daughter and go now? Where should I keep these things?"
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Farzana Shaikh and her family, among others, homeless.
Residents claimed that the BMC put up eviction notices on their doors only on Tuesday evening, even though date on the notice is May 29.
"They should have given us at least a month to evacuate," said Lamin Qureshi, a resident who is a school bus driver, adding, "If this building was illegal, then why was it allowed to be constructed?"
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He added that he had invested his savings to pay the deposit for the rent in his home here, which was around Rs 5 lakh.
Six years ago, the building was a one-storey structure. The tenants claimed that a builder bought it from them on the promise that he would redevelop the structure and give them flats in it.
When mid-day reached out to BMC officials, all they said was, "Only after the action is complete can we talk about it." mid-day also tried contacting assistant municipal commissioner Sharad Ughade (H-west ward) but did not get a response. The rest of the floors will be demolished in the coming two to three days.
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