Worse still, there is not even a hope of their wait ending in the near future. For, some other people have already moved into two multi-storied buildings constructed by Kuber Builders where their houses once were and the MRRB has not been able to do anything but wriggle its hands in despair and blame the BMC for snatching away its property. The board insists that it is the rightful owner of the 22,000 sq metre plot at Kopargaon Estate in Mazgaon as the buildings that were demolished from here in early 70s were cessed structures.

But, nobody is listening. The housing minister himself admitted on the floor of house recently that since a private builder has been given the permission to develop the plot, there was no role left for the MRRB.

So, who is to blame for the plightof the 70 families - women, children, old and infirm - who have lost their houses for no fault of theirs. MRRB insists that BMC is the culprit. Board chairman Madhu Chavan says that the BMC did not seek MRRB's permission before inviting a builder to develop the land. And they did this, he adds, after rejecting MRRB proposal on the ground that the board did not have the expertise to construct a 40-ft road, a recreation club and a primary school, which were an integral part of the redevelopment plan. Interestingly, there are no signs of either a road or a school now that the plot has been developed by Kuber Builders. But, that does not seem to bother the BMC too much. All the tenants in the new buildings have water and electricity connections sanctioned by the BMC and the buildings have been given the occupation certificate - the BMC's stamp of approval.

According to the MRRB proposal, apart from providing houses to the original tenants, 1,000 more tenements were to be constructed.

Not that the stategovernment has not been aware of all this. In fact, Chief Minister Manohar Joshi had instituted an enquiry in 1996 into the matter. But no action has been taken so far.

Chavan says that the original tenants of the plot may now have to live in transit camps all their lives, for there is no provision in the MHADA Act to accommodate them in some other building. "We have to accommodate the original tenants in the reconstructed building. We cannot list them in the master list and hence unless some new provision is made for them, they will end up living in the transit camp forever."