MUMBAI, Aug. 15 -- On a recent muggy afternoon, 55-year-old Meenabai Govind Limbole sat on the edge of a footpath along Powai Plaza, watching the traffic crawl by. A plastic sheet hung limply over the tin frame she now calls home - her second shelter for over a year. "They already broke our homes of 30 years," she said, her voice steady but her eyes moist. "Now they want us off the footpaths too?" Meenabai is among 50-60 families still clinging to life on the pavements around Jai Bhim Nagar, a slum cluster razed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in June 2024. The basti once sheltered around 650 low-wage, working-class households, many of them migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha. Most belong to historically marginalised communities, including Scheduled Castes (SCs) and nomadic tribes, with a significant number identifying with the Vishwakarma community - artisans traditionally celebrated for their skilled labour. Most have since scattered - to rented rooms, relatives' homes, or other informal settlements - unable to withstand the rains, mosquitoes, and absence of security that life on the street brings. Now, the BMC is preparing to return. On August 18, armed with a court order and police assistance, municipal bulldozers are expected to clear the footpaths once again. The looming eviction follows a petition filed by two neighbouring high-rises - Tivoli and Evita Cooperative Housing Society - complaining about the occupation of the footpaths. On July 7, the Bombay High Court observed that the neatly built pavement had been "completely encroached" by tin and plastic sheds, used not only for shelter but for daily activities such as cooking, selling food, and drying clothes. "When large public expenditure is incurred in creating such infrastructure . the Municipal Corporation and its officers simply turn a blind eye," noted the division bench of justices G S Kulkarni and Arif Doctor. The judges questioned whether public convenience should be sacrificed, forcing "citizens, young, old and disabled alike" onto the roads - a remark that foreshadowed the death of 75-year-old Neeta Shah, crushed between a bus and a parked car while walking on a road without a footpath. The court has since directed the BMC to form a special cell to survey and clear all encroached pavements across Mumbai, warning civic officials of personal consequences if they fail to act. For Jai Bhim Nagar's remaining residents, the August 18 date is a deja vu moment. They had already faced demolition once last monsoon - despite a 2021 state government resolution prohibiting slum clearances between June and September. The June 2024 drive, carried out with police protection, sparked clashes that led to multiple arrests and left families camped on the roadside. Life on the footpath is a daily battle. Residents say they rely on rainwater during shortages, navigate poorly lit roads where accidents are common, and cope with monsoon illnesses in cramped, damp shelters. Toilets are few and often unusable. Many have lost their livelihoods - small stalls, home-based work - after last year's demolition. Shreemati, another resident, put it bluntly, "Of course we have a lot of fear. We don't know how we will survive here. But it has been over a year now, and there is still no end in sight."...