The residents of Govandi’s Shree Swati Co-operative Housing Society went to a marathon in Chembur to highlight the fact that Tridhaatu, a development firm that sponsored the athletic event, has been unable to redevelop their buildings since 2009. They met a senior representative  of the firm at the marathon. They claimed that they had no choice but to resort to this peaceful form of protest to air their grievances.

An elderly resident, Ayyappan Iyer, said, “We surrendered our homes to the builder in 2009. According to the plan, the redeveloped project should have been completed by 2012. To date, we are living in a rented apartment. He added, “Most of the residents are senior citizens. They are paying rent from their savings as the builder stopped giving us rent, which is part of the agreement.”