India, May 13 -- The Mumbai Port Authority (MbPA) on Tuesday began a major demolition drive against what it said were encroachments on its land near Kavala Bunder in Darukhana, leaving hundreds of slum dwellers bereft. The slum dwellers, who claimed they had documents to prove they had been living on the site for decades and were thus protected by law, were backed by NGOs and politicians from several parties, including the BJP, Shiv Sena and Sena (UBT). Mumbai South MP and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Arvind Sawant has written to PM Narendra Modi to protect the hutments.

The MbPA is the biggest landlord in Mumbai, and large chunks of its lands are encroached. Most of these structures are pre-1995 and come under Maharashtra's policy of protecti...