Appa Pada residents fear eviction

MUMBAI: While the entire country is glued to their television sets catching every second of the cricket World Cup action, thousands of people living in Appa Pada and other areas outside the National Park area have not been so lucky.
In fact, they have been living in darkness for the last few months as their electricity has been cut off and other facilities withdrawn.
All the basic amenities provided to the residents of the area are being withdrawn gradually to force them out of what is perceived to be a highpriced real estate area. Besides, they have been accused of occupying the land which has been demarcated as being part of the National Park area.
The names of many of the residents have been struck off the voters'' list, says Prakash Reddy, president of Zopadi Bachao Parishad. Mahadeo Dhamne, 43, has been working at the Nariman Point post office for the last 20 years.
While he labours zealously to ensure that people across the city get their letters without any delay, his mail does not reach home. Neither does those of his neighbours and the people living in and around his locality. This is because no postman visits his or any other''s house in the area.
Their letters are dumped in a post-box some distance away from where they live. It is left to the residents themselves to sort out the mail.
Speaking to TNN, Bajirao Patil, an employee of the government printing press at Charni Road, said, "Many of us have told our relatives to send letters to our office address." "Although government authorities have admitted that including the area in the park might have been a mistake, they have not issued the necessary notification," complained architect Chandra Shekhar during a chat with TNN.
Former prime minister V P Singh took up the issue with chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde at a meeting recently. He said people had moved into the area out of sheer necessity. Many, he pointed out, were white collar employees while there were also a couple of families whose sons had fought the Kargil battle.
All that does not seem to matter, for, the residents live under the threat of eviction. "Every other day, people from the forest department come and threaten us with dire consequences if we do not shift," said Rajabai Khandare, an old widow of a police constable hailing from Solapur.
Children here have to shell out nearly Rs 75 per month because schools in the vicinity are all privately run.
A number of pucca houses as well as schools in the area were demolished in a furious drive three years ago. People,whose children studied in the demolished schools, have been left with no record of their studies. Several residents have returned since that drive, but have the barest minimum over their heads.