From a 300-sq ft home to living on an old bed

Munira Shaikh, 80, is living on the site where her home was razed in Agarwal Nagar, Vasai East. Surviving on the generosity of passersby, her fate is uncertain

MUMBAI: Twelve days after being evicted from her one-room-kitchen flat in Roshni Apartments – one of the 41 unauthorised buildings demolished in Agarwal Nagar in Vasai East – this 80-year-old still has no roof over her head. She has been camping on the vacant plot – on an old bed – since she has nowhere to go.

Policemen dragged me out of my house 12 days ago and tossed me on the road, said Munira Shaikh

Munira Shaikh’s building was one the first to be constructed in Agarwal Nagar 25 years ago, when she had bought her 300-square foot home for a total consideration of ₹4 lakh – her life savings.

People who watch her live on her bed, which sits unevenly on the now vacant plot, believe the government should accommodate her elsewhere on humanitarian grounds, but Shaikh doesn’t think so. “I have lived here and will die here,” she said, seated on her bed, which is covered with a mosquito net and has just enough space for a water bottle and a few clothes.

“The government does not care whether we live or die. They are a bunch of heartless people. I do not have ₹30,000 to give as a deposit and ₹5,000 as monthly rent, to shift to a rented apartment in nearby buildings, where the others rendered homeless by the demolition drive have gone,” said Shaikh, fighting back tears.

Shaikh separated from her husband 30 years ago, when he began living with another woman. She walked out of the slum in Bandra, where they were living, and went to Vasai in search of cheaper accommodation, as she had no children or relatives to live with.

“My only relatives are my sister’s children, who live in Parbhani, and they didn’t want me there,” recalled Shaikh. She had heard that there were ‘cheap flats’ available in Vasai, and so she bought a one-room-kitchen unit for herself. Working as a house maid, she paid for electricity and rations as long as she could.

“My neighbours used to give me food, and a political activist, Deepak Satarkar, sent me medicines and money monthly to survive – until the policemen dragged me out of my house 12 days ago and tossed me on the road. They did not even take pity me for my age.”

Shaikh said a few homes for the elderly had approached her, but they wanted her to stop offering namaaz, so she turned them down. “I do not want to live in a place where I am told to give up my religion,” said Shaikh, who is surviving on the generosity of passersby, who offer her food and water.

On February 16, the Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) completed their drive against unauthorised buildings in Agarwal Nagar, which had housed more than 2,000 families. According to VVCMC officers, the 41 unauthorised buildings had been built on land reserved for a sewage treatment plant and a dumping ground. The Supreme Court had upheld a Bombay High Court order, ordering the demolition of these 41 buildings, after residents approached the apex court for a stay on the demolitions in November last year.

After the apex court order, the municipal corporation took action in phase one, and demolished seven dangerous, dilapidated buildings which were already vacated. After razing a few more buildings, the drive halted in December because the residents had approached the high court again but failed to get any respite.

The second phase of the demolition started on January 23. As a precautionary measure, the police imposed a prohibitory order and deployed around 500 policemen. For the next, 22 days, the remaining buildings were evacuated and demolished.

“Residents were asked to submit proof of residence for rehabilitation. The action ended on the evening of February 15,” said Deepak Sawant, Deputy Municipal Commissioner, VVMC.

Of the 2,000 families, the applications of just eight have been deemed as valid for the VVMC to issue that all-important certificate, which is ‘proof of residence’. The certificate proves the resident had bought a flat in one of the 41 unauthorised buildings, which allows them to apply for accommodation under a government rehabilitation scheme, pending a decision by the state.

“The land will now be used for a sewage treatment plant and a dumping ground, as originally planned,” said a VVMC official.