AS the civic hammer fell upon the top two storeys of Lakshmi Ganga Niwas building in Ulhasnagar, thousands spilled out on to the streets in anger, pelting stones at the police, vandalising vehicles and staging a three-hour rail roko at Shahad railway station.
The three-storey structure at Devas Chowk was the first occupied structure to be demolished by the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation in accordance with an April 23 Bombay High Court order that directed the demolition of 855 illegal structures.
In a sprawling suburb—a majority of Ulhasnagar’s 5.5 lakh residents are Sindhis who emigrated from Pakistan during the Partition—that has seen rampant haphazard development, this could mean leaving more than 1 lakh people homeless.
On Tuesday afternoon, the two-hour demolition saw residents storming the streets in protest, venting their anger against the 200 policemen deployed to protect the civic demolition team.
At 2 pm, residents tried to stand in front of the building to stop the demolition team.
When the police intervened, the mob started pelting stones, forcing the police to lathi-charge. Eleven policemen were injured in the melee.
‘‘This was expected,’’ said Thane Police Commissioner D Sivanandhan. ‘‘Our intention was to control the situation, not to hurt the residents.’’
Lakshmi Narang (70) watched her home being demolished before her eyes. ‘‘It’s hard to watch your house being brought down,’’ she said, with tears in her eyes. ‘‘We are all paying for our ignorance. After all, it’s the poor who are suffering.’’
‘‘It feels like a tsunami has hit our town,’’ said Ulhasnagar resident Gopal Achra (32).
‘‘Thousands will be out on the streets. I am hoping the government will do something about this.’’
But Municipal Commissioner Ramnath Sonawane—he has been under extreme pressure, especially from politicians—says he is helpless. ‘‘This is just the beginning of the demolitions,’’ he said. ‘‘I will have to take action against all the structures in the list.’’