Here's how it works. Locate a vacant plot, erect a temporary structure, then file a petition in court claiming there is an imminent threat of demolition by the civic authorities Then, get the court to ask the civic authorities to furnish information on the structure. In the intervening two to three days it takes the BMC to collect and submit the details, transform the structure into a permanent one.

By the time the civic authorities visit the site, a couple of bamboos and a tarpaulin have been converted into a two-storey structure built withpre-fabricated material almost overnight.

Simultaneously, procure ration cards and other related documents sowing that the structure was built prior to January 1, 1995. This, in effect, `legalises' the structure and also makes the occupants eligible for brand new, free homes under the state government's Slum Rehabilitation Scheme. The BMC is thus rendered powerless while `legal hutments' spring up all over the city.

Civic officials confide that the modus operandi has been used by most slumlords in the city, which is responsible for their wanton proliferation. Much to their embarrassment, they also realise that their lawyers have been contesting stay orders on structures that often do not exist. For instance, the BMC is still trying to locate four stalls outside Kurla station which were built a year ago. When the stall owners had sought a stay from the court, they had only vaguely stated that the stalls were `outside Kurla station'. So, while the BMC continues its year-long search, the hawkers have beendoing thriving business.

Civic officials admit there could be thousands of cases though no one knows exactly how many. Even its Legal Department is in the dark. The problem, civic officials explain, is that the petitioners furnish vague and incomplete addresses in court, which are in turn handed over to the BMC to pursue. In some instances, only the general area is named.

Interestingly, in most cases, the petitioners approach the court for a stay order on Thursdays and Fridays. With the weekend break ahead, the court usually passes an interim order restraining the BMC from demolishing the structure. With the BMC also shut till Monday, the temporary structure invariably turns into a permanent one, literally in a couple of days.In Chembur, the ward officer Prakash Thorat has been contesting 29 such encroachments since a year. A six-acre plot along the Eastern Express Highway near Swastik Park was given to T N Chowghule to form a cooperative housing society in 1957. In the Development Plan, the plot wasreserved for a railway line but it was later dereserved. The society's plan was passed on March 29, 1995. But in 1997, hutments came up on the plot. The BMC demolished them six times in December 1997. When they returned, the collector demolished them 13 times between January and March 1999.

In April 1998, Chowghule hired a security agency to guard the plot. Despite that, 15 huts were constructed on it and even sold. Gradually, the number swelled to 40. Subsequently, 29 of the hutment dwellers secured a stay from the court restraining the BMC from razing them without following the due process of law. The catch: the survey number of the huts was stated as `14' whereas no such address exists in the BMC's records!

When the ward office contacted the petitioners' advocate, he claimed he could not identify the 29 huts from the surrounding ones. On June 10, the BMC's bulldozers took a final decision. All 327 structures were brought down.