42 slum structures razed for Versova connector

BMC demolished 42 slum structures in Andheri to build a key bridge, easing traffic but leaving many families homeless amid rehabilitation disputes.

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday razed 42 slum structures along SVP Nagar Road in Andheri west to clear land for a 100-metre connector bridge, a crucial link in the proposed Versova-Bhayander Coastal Road and Versova-Bandra Sea Link.

iMumbai, India - October 30, 2025: Forty-two slum families are being evicted in Siddharth Nagar, Andheri west, to make way for a new bridge that will connect Yari Road and Lokhandwala in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, October 30, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The bridge, regarded as a “missing link”, is expected to connect Yari Road to Lokhandwala, and ease traffic congestion at JP Road and Seven Bungalows, reducing travel time for Versova residents from 30 minutes to just 10.

An official from the BMC’s bridges department said the demolition took place on government-owned Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) land. “When we conducted the first demolition on this land in 2019, the encroachments were in the mangrove buffer zone. They don’t have proof of existence for the last 30 years,” the official explained.

Clearing the land will pave the way for the construction of a feeder road, or bridge, that will integrate with the upcoming Versova-Bhayander Coastal Road and the Madh-Versova link. “Those staying in the SVP locality will benefit most. This will reduce traffic impact on JP Road and Seven Bungalows,” he said.

The bridge will extend 393 metres, spanning the Kavathe Creek. It will connect Yari Road and Versova to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Nagar, Lokhandwala Complex, and Samarth Nagar. The 100-metre creek section will be built as a single-span steel arch, with approach roads of 166 metres from Yari Road and 117 metres from Lokhandwala.

However, the demolition has left several families homeless. The affected hutment dwellers, who are not being rehabilitated, allege that the civic administration invoked the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code instead of the Slum Rehabilitation Act, 1995, to avoid providing alternative housing. A public notice issued by the Mumbai Suburban District Collector on September 26 described their homes as “unauthorised structures’.

Civic officials said a site inspection in July had revealed that 41 huts and a temple had reappeared on the land, despite an earlier eviction in 2011. Consequently, the authorities invoked Section 50(3) of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, and issued eviction notices under a 2008 state circular.

For residents like 45-year-old Gautam Khanna, whose home was demolished, the move has been devastating. “We were construction labourers and carpenters who built homes here after constructing the Dhanalaxmi building in 2000. Without declaring us illegal, they razed our houses. There are at least eight members with five children in every family,” said Khanna.

Shubham Kothari, a member of the Jan Hakk Sangarsh Samiti, said, “Under the Maharashtra Slum Act 1971, the slum dwellers must be given a chance to prove their eligibility for rehabilitation, which was not given.”