Janata Colony

or People's colony was a settlement that was set up as 'Squatters Colony' by Bombay Municipal Corporation during the late 1940s by forcibly evicting pavement dwellers from several parts of the city including Carnac Bunder, Sion, Matunga, Mahim. In the year 1948 (September, 8th) BMC passed a resolution about clearing the slums in the city in the next ten years but the same could not be taken up as there was no financial stability in the city due to the war. In the year 1950 another such resolution was passed and it was lamented that in the past as such no progress was made regarding clearance of slums and the decision was taken to evict the pavement dwellers from different parts of the City. The context of this decision was the extension of the limits of the Bombay City from Mahim and Sion to Majas(Jogeshwari) and Bhandup in the east on 15th April 1950 as Greater Bombay Scheme. The Panel that was appointed to look into extension of city limits had pointed out that "only 13 lakh people could be accommodated in Bombay City and the rest had be accommodated in the extended city limits". In May, 1949 the BMC asked TISS to conduct a census of the squatters that were residing on the pavements of the city roads so that the 'problem of squatters' could be dealt with. In November 1950, BMC decided to set up two colonies at Majas and Mankhurd to shift the pavement dwellers from different parts of the city. This was opposed to and resisted by the pavement dwellers, who amongst other things walked into the Gwalior Palace at Worli and squatted demanding the empty palace of the Scindias to be given to them on 22nd July 1950 under the Greater Bombay Tenants Union as the princely states had been abolished. Occupy Samudra Mahal

This protest could not resist the shifting and by mid 1950s more than 3000 families were shifted, the squatters colony came to be known as Janata Colony later. Over a period of two decades the Colony got established as a township with more than 5000 families residing over there. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Trombay Hill the Atomic Energy Establishment was also established in 1950s which was later named Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.