Protests by women’s collective stop eviction drive under Kolkata flyover

A women’s collective in Western Bengal sent legal notifications to local authorities and stopped the “arbitrary and illegal” release driving in the Hastings region of Kalcutta on Saturday, August 23, 2025.

Legal intervention and repeated protests, Muktokantha Mahila Samity, the existing evacuation driving was canceled, but insecurity appears on the residents in the region.

Calcutta has witnessed more than one evacuation driver, which has been welcomed by the protests of both residents and social workers, including Gariahath, lake gardens and other fields in the last few months.

In a statement published on Friday, August 22, 2025, the Women’s Collective said that Hastings Thana police have visited the residents under the Hastings Bridge since August 19 and asked people to move from the ground.

“On August 21, 2025, the police staff returned and on August 23, 2025, a police van forcibly lifted us and said that he would devote us to shelters for men and women,” he said. They condemned it and said that in the middle of any plan of the ongoing heavy rain and the rehabilitation plan of the inhabitants, the authorities should not evacuate people.

Women’s Collective Vice President Kahkasha Shakiil said they could deterd the release driving on Saturday, August 23, 2025. “We sent legal notifications to the Mayor of Calcutta Municipality, Calcutta police and the Mayor of Calcutta. However, the police were walking around the region in the morning and the inhabitants were frightened that they would be removed soon,” he said.

He also said that the police in the region were frequently illegal activities in the region and therefore told the evacuation driving.

Sources at Hastings Police Station Hindu The evacuation driving, which was planned on Saturday, August 23, 2025, was canceled from the local authorities to the next notification. The senior police officer refused to comment more on the reason behind the evacuation notification.

Referring to public facilities dated 1971 (the evacuation of unauthorized passengers), the group said that no evacuation without a written demonstration, hearing and orders, and that no evacuation could be made. Furthermore, if the displacement is inevitable, the legal process stated that the “transparent, participatory and humanity rehabilitation plan götün should be implemented in order to provide a humane approach to the problem.

Ranjit Sur, the Secretary General of the Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) Human Rights Activist Ranjit Sur, said that such evacuation driving forces were condemned. Sur said, “They do this to remove the poverty evidence from the eyes of the people, but their holistic plans are illegal without rehabilitation for rehabilitation and evacuation,” Sur said.