PPF_housing1_120_jantafury
Residents' fury
By A Staff Reporter
Nearly 70,000 residents of Janata colony in Mankhurd are facing the unhappy prospect of being shifted from their houses on Saturday to a much "less congenial" site on the Sion-Trombay road, adjoining a colony of leprosy patients.
The atmosphere in the Janata colony, was tense on ,Friday and there was heavy police bandobust. The evacuation on Saturday is likely to be met with resistance. The residents have already started offering dharna in the area.
The colony came into existence in 1951 when the municipal corporation gave the present plot of 54 acres for the resettlement of pavement dwellers from various parts of the city. Subsequently, a township has developed there with schools, sanitary facilities, six temples, five mosques and a church.
According to the residents' committee, there is a proposal to allot the land to the adjoining BARC for its staff recreation and residential quarters. The committee says the residents would be shifted to a much smaller area of 37 acres. It is low-lying and often inundated by tidal waves. The residents have constructed houses in the Janata colony after spending large sums.
A Marxist M.P., Mr. Mathew Kurien, has in a letter to the Prime Minister, alleged that the BARC authorities had pressurised the state government and the Bombay municipal corporation into securing the land.
The BARC community wanted to have beautiful surroundings. Hence started the evacuation. Mr. Kurien also refuted the claim that the colony offered a security threat to the BARC and added the centre had enough land within its premises for residential quarters and recreational facilities.
Pad.ma requires JavaScript.
