'Just kill us': Ousted gaothan bldg residents allege injustice

Amid conflict with BMC over safety of building, residents fear they may soon not have a home

- Sabah Virani

MUMBAI: Since Monday, the residents of DSouza Mansion in Santacruz East have been living without electricity and water, waiting it out in the little courtyard of their building. A generator has allowed them to run one fan in each of the 10 homes at night, while the children have been studying for exams with torches and candles. They fear an even worse fate; that within a few days, their building on their ancestral land will be demolished, and they will no longer have a place to call home.

"The BMC and police barged in around noon on Monday to cut off our electricity supply," said 81-year-old Mary Fernandez tearfully. "How do we live in such heat and amid mosquitos? They should just kill us."

Another resident, Gracy D'Souza, 78, had bruises on her arm which, she claimed, were acquired when she stopped the police from cutting off their water supply. Two more elderly residents in the ground-plus-two-storey building are bedridden.