While dealing with a case regarding the removal of homeless persons sleeping on the streets and pavements, the Bombay High Court on March 3 had asked the authorities to be humane while handling those without a roof over their heads.
High Court asks to show humanity
The HC observed that these hapless persons are also humans and must be treated that way. The police and BMC officials had cracked down on pavement dwellers, especially in south Mumbai, in the run up to the G20 meeting.
The Free Press Journal went through the streets of south Mumbai and tried to find out who exactly are the people who sleep under the sky. Said Sonali Gaonkar, 35, “My parents came to Mumbai from Solapur to work as labourers. They were among those recruited for the construction of the Air India building and lived on a pavement nearby. I was born there.”
Sonali now lives on a pavement near Churchgate station with her husband and four children. | FPJ
Sonali now lives on a pavement near Churchgate station with her husband and four children. She said she and her husband do odd jobs and on days when there’s no work, they beg. “We are living honest lives, but we simply cannot afford to buy a home. So we made this pavement our home. We have all documents, including Aadhaar and ration cards, and have submitted copies of them to the Marine Drive police so they don’t evict us. But that hasn’t helped. Every night we fear being evicted,” she said.
National Urban Livelihoods Mission
In 2021, the BMC announced formulating a policy for the urban homeless, including efforts to provide temporary shelter, make them self-reliant and help them regain a dignified place in society. It was to be funded by the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM). A toll-free helpline was also announced to boot. However, till date, most homeless persons are unaware of the scheme. A part of this policy was camps for homeless citizens to provide them with government identity cards. Apparently this work hasn’t started yet.
Chandrika and Kavita, two single women from a family of five kids living near Churchgate station, said, “The BMC does nothing. Our existing documents were burnt along with our other stuff during an eviction drive. Till date we do not have any identity cards.”
They are third generation of a family living on this stretch abutting Veer Nariman Road. Their only way of income is the money and prasad that Kavita’s eight-year-old son gets working at a nearby temple. Occasionally, they work as sweepers. Kavita has sent her 13-year-old daughter to a hostel attached to a drug rehab centre in Santa Cruz. The mother apparently lied to the authorities that her daughter is an addict so she could get admission and free food and accommodation with it. She did this as it’s not safe to keep her on the footpath.
This reporter was also informed that the police come at night and beat them up to vacate the area. Sarita Ganesha seeks alms and stays on a Colaba Causeway pavement while looking after her blind mother. “I used to stay in a slum but the BMC destroyed it and rendered me homeless,” she said.
Involved in illegal activities, they don't want help
The homeless in the city are from rural Maharashtra as well those from other states. One such dweller is Karim Sheikh, 28, who came from Kolkata just a few days ago in search of work. Now he lives on the pavement near Bombay Hospital with food from the dargah nearby. He does odd jobs to make a living.
Santosh Pandhari from NGO Nature Foundation said, “We have tried extending help but it’s like they don’t want it... Most of them, from kids to adults, are addicts and are involved in some sort of illegal activities. Nevertheless, we are still working with the homeless.” He concluded, “As of now, there is a huge gap between the capacity of the shelters and the number of homeless.”
