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Mumbai: Medha Patkar blocks highway, traffic affected

January 20, 2011 14:41 IST

Activist Medha Patkar, along with 200 other protestors, was detained by the Mumbai police at Santacruz in suburban Mumbai, after she blocked the Western Express Highway on Thursday morning.

Traffic movement near the highway was affected by the blockade for over two hours. Patkar and local residents were protesting the demolition of several homes for a slum rehabilitation authority project in Golibar in Santacruz.

Residents were claiming that their homes were demolished 'illegally and in an unjust manner'. The slum development project has been mired in controversy after a number of residents started opposing the redevelopment.

There are allegations that the land belongs to the Air Force but there are no records to prove that.

N Ganesh In Mumbai