Naufil Sarang’s home has been demolished on April 29, one of the latest structures reduced to rubble by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) in Mumbai in a series of demolitions that have been ongoing since 2021. His house on plot number nine in Bharat Nagar, Bandra East, Mumbai, was torn down hastily, even as the matter awaits judgment at the Supreme Court. When I reported on this colony months ago, amid unsanctioned demolitions and teeming builder interests, Sarang had promised to fight till the end. He has. But I can hear the exhaustion in his voice now, after months of disorienting battle with various housing authorities. 

Sarang belongs to a dwindling group of residents protesting what they call “builder raj“ in Bharat Nagar. This 44-acre area has drawn redevelopment interest since 1996, eventually landing in the hands of Adani-group-promoted Budhpur Buildcon, triggering rapid clearance drives that left inhabitants in disarray.

Rent receipts issued by the MHADA to Sarang’s family. Photo: Fight For Wrong, News & Media. 

The situation reached fever pitch in September 2025, when Sarang’s media organisation, Fight For Wrong, joined activists and residents to protest the demolitions and mischaracterisation of occupants as “slum dwellers” – despite many holding valid Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) allotment letters dating to 1975. Now, as the case is heard in the Supreme Court, residents allege that authorities are disregarding court-ordered stays on demolitions to serve builder interests, while deploying “bogus photopasses” on a MHADA layout to present it as a censused slum.

Sarang’s organisation, activists and residents have been protesting against the demolition notices since a decade, alleging they are unlawful under Sections 33 and 38 of the Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971. They further argue that they have been “misattributed” as tenants of a Basera SRA Society, instead of a MHADA-designated Basera Co-operative Housing Society, of which they claim to be registered members.

“The Basera Society has filed a false and........

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