Residents of Abhyudaya Nagar in Kalachowki, Parel, can heave a sigh of relief, with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde telling the Slum Rehabilitation Authority not to demolish their houses until a solution in found to the problems the residents are likely to face.
This comes in the wake of The Free Press Journal reporting last month about three women attempting suicide by consuming poison after the SRA notified them that their houses would be razed for a cluster redevelopment project.
The residents had been protesting outside the offices of the SRA, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), the Kalachowki police station, and Shinde's residence in Thane for the past couple of week. The chief minister finally met the residents earlier this week and promised to come up with a solution.
MHADA had proposed to the state government to redevelop certain areas in Worli, Bandra, and Kalachowki, following which developers approached people whose houses were situated along the as their house apparently fell in the way of the projects.
In Kalachowki, the houses of the residents are near the proposed entrance of of one of the cluster redevelopment projects. The residents of Kalachowki have said that they have been living there for almost 40 years.
Last month, the residents found out a notice stuck to a door of a public washroom saying that they have to vacate the place in 15 days as the houses will be demolished soon thereafter. Out of the fear of being homeless, three women of a family allegedly consumed poison but were save because of timely treatment at Nair Hospital.
"We are told that a list of apatra and patra will be made and released to us once we submit our proof of residence and other documents to the SRA. We are not anxious now, as this is our land and we are eligible for home allotment," said Dinesh Shankar Ujhrejiya, a resident of the area.
“Apatra” means one's name is not on the list of candidates eligible for home allotment, while “patra” means one is eligible for allotment, according to the SRA.
The residents are now confident about being deemed patra by SRA and being allotted transit houses and thus not being left homeless.
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