3 min readMumbaiJun 4, 2026 08:33 PM IST Almost a year after their homes in Darukhana on the eastern front of the city were demolished, residents of the area marched from their homes to Azad Maidan on Thursday. Having continued to live on the site of their broken homes, over the rubble, the upcoming monsoon raised anxieties among the homeless about their continued existence and their children’s health. Much of the land on the Eastern Freeway, which has been occupied by warehouses and slum homes for decades, belongs to the Mumbai Port Trust Authority (MbPA) under the central government. Despite the residents having lived in the area for three to four generations with documents to show proof — with the previous generations having worked at the port — the MbPA’s lack of a housing policy means they did not receive alternative homes. On May 12, around 200 homes along New Tank Bundar Road were demolished, leaving around 500 people out on the streets. Officials from the MbPA warned other informal homes in the area too …