The name is Shanti Dharma Co-operative Housing Society, but for the residents of this ground plus three-storey structure at Mogul Lane, Raut Wadi, at Mahim West, “shanti” is in the name only. Those living in the 12-flat building have extreme difficulty entering and exiting the premises as the access has been compromised by at least 13 hutments that have stayed put there, despite all efforts to shift them.

Hutments stand

The hutment occupants in the neighbourhood have a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) building called the Meenatai Thackeray Society in the same vicinity. This building was started in 1998 and as wings were completed, more than 80 hutment dwellers were shifted into the building in phases. But the last 13 hutment dwellers have refused to move in, though they were supposed to be shifted in 2014. Two other housing societies, the Harishchandra Housing Society and Prabhu Housing Society, are similarly impacted because of this hutment encroachment refusing to budge.