BAINA: Fifty-five Baina families, whose houses face demolition, have now started knocking on the doors of political leaders, requesting them for rehabilitation through government.
Fear has gripped these families as when their houses are demolished, they would not only lose a roof over their heads, but also displaced from Baina.
Houses of these families are built on a land owned by a local church and a ‘bhatkar’. But this land has now been sold to a private builder who sought the help of Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) through court to clear encroachments. On the order of the court, the council is likely to demolish these structures anytime.
On Thursday, a group of affected families along with Councillor Murari Bandekar met MMC Chairperson Deepak Naik and sought his intervention to either defer the demolition or persuade the government to rehabilitate them.
However, Naik said that since the issue is related to court, MMC would not be in position to defer the demolition. Nevertheless, he advised the affected families to make representation for rehabilitation to MMC which the civic body would forward to the government.
Speaking to reporters, the affected residents (majority of them are poor) claimed that they have been living in the same area for over four decades. Some of them also claimed that they were initially staying in hutments built close to the Baina shore but after a fire incident in 1984-85, many were left without any shelter.
“On humanitarian grounds, the then administrative officer, Talwar Singh gave us (30 odd people) oral permission to construct a small rooms on the vacant land (church property) at Baina and we got a new lease of life and shelter, but we were not aware that we would face demolition and now,” an affected resident told Herald.
