Concerns over losing a portion of their land have surfaced once again for the residents of the Sherly Rajan Road gaothan with the BMC carrying out demolition work for widening and concretising the road and setting up storm water drains. In February, when the civic body had issued notices to residents asking them to hand over their setback land, they sought help from BJP MLA Ashish Shelar, who had assured them that the old gaothan structures would not be touched. He had also asked the civic officials to ensure that the existing road was developed without taking the setback land. However, the BMC issued another notice in November and started the demolition work on Friday.

The '7-crore project includes widening the 750-metre-long road from its current width that ranges between 8-10 metres to a uniform width of 13.14 metres. The project also includes installation of storm water drains in the area to prevent flooding during monsoon. On Friday, they demolished a number of structures on the setback land. However, residents are of the opinion that the project is not needed in the area.