India, Dec. 11 -- Homeless people, many from denotified tribes, who live on the city's footpaths and sell items like pens, books and flowers at traffic signals, demanded an end to police detentions and civic demolitions at a press conference organised by Pani Haq Samiti on Wednesday. They said these actions violate basic human rights.

This comes after eviction drives were carried out on December 2 and 5 in Vile Parle, Borivali and Kandivali. "The police came and took away my son's documents because he lost an academic year. My son supports our family by delivering bottled water and still wants to continue studying, but his education has suffered," said Sunita Gade, 40 who used to live along the railway tracks at Vile Parle.

Gade said th...