Have guts, demolish illegal houses of rich: Congress on Bandra demolition drive
Slamming the demolition drive in Garib Nagar, Bandra in Mumbai, the Congress Party Tuesday May 19, 2026 dared the government to pull down the illegal homes of rich
Mumbai: Slamming the demolition drive in Garib Nagar, Bandra in Mumbai, the Congress Party Tuesday May 19, 2026 dared the government to pull down the illegal homes of rich.
The Congress accused the government of targeting poor people while ignoring alleged illegal constructions in affluent areas.
“If you have the courage, then demolish the houses of rich people who live in their houses illegally, especially on a large scale in Worli”, Former Minister in Maharashtra, Husain Dalwai, said.
"Even in Bandra so many buildings have been counstructed without proper permission. Will the government demolish them?" he asked.
Dalwai, who also served as a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Rural Development, alleged that homes of poor residents are being demolished without conducting a proper survey.
"Extremely poor people reside in Garib Nagar. Lacking any other place to live, people are compelled to erect shanties and settle wherever they can. Was a survey conducted in the area prior to this operation? How can demolition be carried out without a proper survey? The Court, too, has mandated that a survey must be conducted first", he said while talking to news agency IANS.
Garib Nagar Demolition Drive
Dalwai’s outburst against the government came after the Western Railway (WR), in coordination with civic authorities and local police, Tuesday May 19, 2026 launched a 5-day anti-encroachment drive at Garib Nagar near Bandra East railway station in Mumbai.
The demolition operation aims to remove around 400 to 500 trackside structures to clear some5,300-square-meter railway safety zone.
The Railways began the demolition drive after it got approval from the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court of India, which ruled that trackside encroachments and accumulated waste pose severe operational and public safety risks.
Where will we go?
Meanwhile, tragic scenes were seen in Garib Nagar as bulldozers ran in the locality to demolish, what the authorities claim, are “illegal homes”.
However, the local residents, majority of them Muslims, claimed that they had worked together for years to improve the adverse conditions and make the area suitable for living.
“The area was full of mud and swamp. We all worked together to make the ground stronger”, she is seen saying in a video shared online.
“Where will go now?” another woman asked saying they have been left on the road under intense heat without food and water.
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