Medha Patkar approaches human rights commission against ‘inhuman’ Ambujwadi demolition

Patkar submitted the complaint before the Commission on August 1 along with three residents of the slums, Raju Dnyanba Manmothe, Shameem Fareed Khan, and Sabera Mehamud Khan, the first two of whom are drivers and the latter a labourer

Mumbai: Social activist Medha Patkar has complained to the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission about the “illegal and inhuman” demolition and eviction of 250 families from a slum in Ambujwadi, Malad.

Patkar submitted the complaint before the Commission on August 1 along with three residents of the slums, Raju Dnyanba Manmothe, Shameem Fareed Khan, and Sabera Mehamud Khan, the first two of whom are drivers and the latter a labourer (Vijay Bate)

The demolitions were carried out first on June 1, then June 6, and finally on July 19, leaving the families homeless in the rain amidst the rubble of their homes and belongings.

Patkar submitted the complaint before the Commission on August 1 along with three residents of the slums, Raju Dnyanba Manmothe, Shameem Fareed Khan, and Sabera Mehamud Khan, the first two of whom are drivers and the latter a labourer.

The complaint highlights how the demolitions were carried out without prior notice, the residents were not given a chance to furnish documents to prove how long they had resided there, there was no time or opportunity for them to save their belongings, women were assaulted and detained at the police station without reason for hours, and that the action was carried out amidst alerts of heavy rainfall.

A school run by the Mizpah Charitable Trust educating poor 350 children at little cost was also trampled, and the electricity and water connections were disconnected.

But the biggest complaint is that the demolitions occur in contravention of the Government Resolution (GR) dated June 29, 2021, explicitly prohibiting demolitions in the monsoon months dating June 1 and September 30. “Inspite of this, the demolition was carried out on the orders of the minister. This is a violation of the human rights of the residents,” said Vinod Sangvikar, the advocate who has been appointed to appear for the matter.

The Supreme Court’s 1985 ruling in the Olga Tellis vs Bombay Municipal Corporation was also thwarted, which prohibits evicting pavement dwellers using unreasonable force and without a chance to be heard.

The complaint demands that the demolitions be stayed, with an investigation done on the human rights violations in the demolitions and the authorities who were behind it, including the guardian minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha.

It requests that the victims of the demolitions be given immediate and appropriate compensation, starting ₹20,000, and be allowed to rehabilitate themselves at the same place. Any further evictions should be carried out after the monsoon and with due process, allowing the families fair hearings to prove their eligibility to alternate housing based on the cut-off dates.

“Our hope is that the human rights of the victims will be protected,” said Sangvikar.