Ask him to stop further demolition in Pereirawadi, demand compensation
After braving two nights on the footpath, around 200 residents of Pereirawadi in Bandra (W) with support from NGOs and religious groups like Bombay Catholic Sabha (BCS) and H (West) Federation carried a morcha to MP Priya Dutt’s residence at Pali Hill on Thursday. Around 21 families were forcibly evicted from Pereirawadi on June 2 during a demolition drive.
On Thursday, a delegation of the Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) led by Joseph Dias, general secretary, accompanied by the victims and Edwin Britto, senior vice president Janata Dal met chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and deputy chief minister RR Patil to call for remedial action.
“Deshmukh has issued instructions that a state inquiry be conducted and to maintain status quo pending disposal of the petition with the grievance committee appointed by the Bombay high court,” said Dias.
“Patil asked Archana Tyagi, additional commissioner of police, to investigate the residents’ allegations against the police,” said Dias.
The protestors, in a memorandum to the CM, demanded a stop to further demolition, compensation to the victims and that they be reinstated in their houses. A memorandum was also submitted on behalf of BCS, Sahar Citizens’ Forum, The Bombay East Indian Association, St. John’s Baptist Save Church Committee and other NGOs to Priya Dutt’s secretary Ali Asgar. Dutt was out of the country and is expected to return on June 9.
“Dutt agreed to get in touch with the concerned authorities to stop further demolition,” said Dolphy D’Souza, president, BCS. BCS called it a gross violation of the human rights of residents of Pereirawadi — a 125 years old colony.
The residents had filed a petition with the grievance committee on April 22, alleging misrepresentation of facts by the developer and urging for an inquiry.
“According to the rules, demolition cannot be carried out during monsoon,” said Ashwin Parmar, a resident.
