Fear Of Eviction Rampant In Mumbai

• State Heritage. The conservation arm of the United Nations has declared 39 sites on the 1,600 kilometre stretch of the Western Ghats as World Heritage Sites. These include tiger reserves, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserve forests in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Kerala leads with 19 sites, while four were picked from Maharashtra. [The Times of India]

• Dry Days. The state excise department, which had announced a prohibition on the sale of liquor on Wednesday, July 4, on account of the counting of votes for the legislative council elections, has amended its directive to allow wine shops to remain open on that day. The government had also declared Saturday, June 30 to Monday, July 2, as dry days due to the council elections. [Hindustan Times]

• Easy Eviction. The United Nations’s Millennium Development Goals Report 2012, states that 30 per cent of Mumbai’s residents don’t have ownership or tenancy papers for their homes and one in five Mumbaikars lives in fear of eviction. According to the report, the most visible violation of housing rights facing the urban poor is the practice of eviction without the necessary legal processes. [The Times of India]