Three booked after fire guts Thane slum

Thane

Thane

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A day after a fire broke out in a slum at Turpe Pada, hundreds of slum dwellers protested outside Kasarvadavli police station on Saturday, alleging that the fire was deliberate.

They accused local land sharks of setting the slums on fire after residents refused to vacate the hutments.

Hours after the protest, police booked three people for the fire incident after taking statements of all slum dwellers.

Kishore Khairnar, senior police inspector of Kasarvadavli police station, said, “Based on the statements from slum dwellers, we booked three people for threatening the slum dwellers and allegedly setting the houses on fire. They have been booked under Sections 436 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code. We have not yet arrested them as we are still investigation.”

Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) said they had served notices to slum dwellers last month, asking them to show proof.

Around 22 hutments were gutted in a fire which broke out in the slums of Turpe Pada area of Patlipada near Hiranandani Estate on Friday evening.

More than 250 residents were rendered homeless following this fire and were on the roads till the wee hours of Saturday. Though no one was hurt in the fire, residents said the fire broke out when residents were on their way to lodge a complaint against a local builder, who allegedly harassed them to vacate their homes.

Archana Vavale, 31, a resident, said, “I have a six-year-old son and I am running from pillar to post searching for a place to stay. We have been living in the area for the past 10 to 15 years. Most of us are from Nanded and had come to Thane to work as labourers. We work on various construction projects in the vicinity. On December 16, we got a notice from TMC, claiming that the slum is illegal and we will have to submit proof of our residence.”

She added that they were not aware that their homes are illegal. “We used to pay rent to local landlords all these years. We came to know that the homes are illegal only after getting the TMC notice. The landlords started harassing us to vacate the land as they did not want us to enjoy any benefit or rehabilitation. They wanted all the benefits for themselves.”

Another resident Rajabhan Chavan, 38, said there were regular scuffles between the goons of the landlords and residents.

“The goons have been harassing us for the past two weeks, asking us to vacate the slums. We told them that we are collecting all documents, including tax receipt to prove we have been living here. However, they continued harassing us. On Friday, tired of the regular harassment we decided to approach the police. When we were leaving the slums, a fire broke out,” said Chavan.

The corporation said it was not yet clear if the land is the collector’s land or a private land. Anuradha Babar, assistant municipal commissioner of Majiwada Manpada ward, said, “We had issued 92 notices to the slums 15 days ago as they are illegally constructed.”