Troubled by the thought of losing a plot reserved for a playground to a slum redevelopment scheme, Upasana Fernandes, a Mahim housewife, alerted its owner, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in 2023. The latter, after verifying her claims, informed the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) that the land belonged to the civic body and was reserved exclusively for use as a playground. However, the matter did not end there, and Fernandes was compelled to eventually move the Bombay High Court, which recently stayed the proposed redevelopment.

Fernandes, a resident of Nasserwanji Wadi Cooperative Housing in Mahim West, is a housewife who discontinued her studies after completing the second year of a chartered accountancy course, while her husband, Francis, is a freelancer. The writ petition filed in the high court by Fernandes states, “Plot No. 484(A), located at Nasserwanji Wadi, measures 3512.35 square metres and houses around 56 tenants, including the petitioner, as well as slum dwellers and BMC tenants. An adjoining section of the same plot is already being used as a playground. The entire land parcel measures 7943.21 square metres and is owned by the BMC, with its reservation clearly marked for a playground.”