Mumbai: For more than 70 years, residents of Cheetah Camp, Trombay, have been living in ‘transit’. Not anymore. The right to better housing and amenities is now at their doorstep.
The story begins in the 1950s when Morarji Desai was the Chief Minister of the bilingual Bombay state and decided to relocate pavement dwellers from various areas of the city to Trombay. Thus, Janata Colony came into existence at Manbadruk Village, according to land records.
70,000 residents forcibly moved out overnight
In May 1976, during the Emergency, about 70,000 residents of the Janata Colony slums were forcibly moved out overnight in the presence of thousands of uniformed personnel to a transit camp, to make room for expansion of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre located nearby.
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The poor again became homeless and had to relocate to a marshy land with whatever little they could salvage. This low-lying area was owned by the Department of Atomic Energy. Manbadruk Village, the Janata Colony land parcel, belonged to the BMC.
Though the eviction happened overnight, the Deed of Exchange between the two government bodies happened only nine years later, in 1985. The area swapped was almost the same, around 53.18 acres.
The land on which the new ‘transit camp’ came up and where the population currently resides is Cheetah Camp. As it is a transit camp,there has always been a fear among the people of the Government forcing them yet again to move to a new location.
Since then, a perception has been created that the pocket is a Muslim-dominated ghetto. But the area has a healthy mix of Hindus, Muslims, Dalits, Tamils and Christians. A newspaper vendor detailed out demand for English, Marathi, Hindi, Urdu and Tamil dailies, a reflection of the cultural mix at the ‘transit’ camp.
More than 2.5 lakh residents in less than 100 acres of land
In the last 46 years, though there have been some concerns expressed by the surrounding defence establishments such as the Naval Armament Depot and INS Tanaji, there has been no attempt to relocate the population again. Currently, over 2.5 lakh people reside in an area of a little more than 100 acres. The other plots come under government departments other than the BMC.
“In the past, whenever we used to approach civic officials to seek amenities such as a market or something else, we were always told that the land does not belong to the BMC and so such social infrastructure cannot be created,” said resident Farid Hussain of the AIM Trust. Even the latest Draft Development Plan 2034 excluded several such social amenities.
“Our every demand for the larger public benefit used to get stuck for lack of mention of the BMC in the property records, though for decades the BMC itself did not complete the property registration process. In 2012-13, we decided enough was enough and began to study the issue in depth,” he added.
The most crucial document was the ‘Deed of Exchange’. The civic staff was not cooperative. They simply led the activists to a dusty record room and asked them to find what they needed.
Deed of Exchange document found in 2014
In 2014, it took six months and countless visits to the BMC office to sift through every file and stack of papers to find the ‘Deed of Exchange’.
Armed with the crucial document, visits to civic officials commenced to bring the lack of registration to their notice and convince them to get the deed executed. In 2017, Shahnawaz Shaikh won the BMC election as a candidate of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). Empowered with an elected position, he and Mr Hussain teamed up to push the agenda of getting 53.18 acres of Cheetah Camp registered in the BMC’s name.
“Several officials were met to be briefed aboutthe past and present status and what is needed to be done. It took five years and numerous visits to finally get the Deed of Exchange registered, which happened on Nov 10 this year,” said Mr Shaikh.
An entry in Index II of the property records has also been completed. “What now remains is an entry on the property card, which is underway and likely to be done in the next few days by the Collector’s office,” he added.
Index II is a legal certificate containing property registration details along with the documents submitted to the Registrar's office. The property card provides information about a plot’s ownership and its history of holdings in an urban area.
When an entry on the property card is made, it will pave the way for the inhabitants to get their homes redeveloped.
“We desire better living conditions, an upgrade of our surroundings and open spaces with amenities,” said Mr Shaikh and Mr Hussain. However, they may face one more hiccup: the need for Defence Ministry clearance.
