India, Oct. 30 -- Jagannath JS, 91, who lives in government housing near Lilavati Hospital, moved to Bandra Reclamation around half a century ago. The roads were still unpaved then, although it had already been a couple of decades since landfilling had conjured this neighbourhood from the Arabian Sea - hence the name.

Quiet, leafy and decidedly middle-class, Bandra Reclamation is dotted with ageing housing colonies built by MHADA for ONGC engineers, civil servants and other government employees. Nearby, low-rise homes overlook the Mahim Bay, their residents tracing family roots back generations. Over time, slums began to fill the spaces in between.

Today, jackhammers and earthmovers shatter the calm as real estate developers, ever eager...