The 24 families that resided in Chembur’s Tilak Safalya Co-operative Housing Society have not been able to go home for 17 years. Like so many other cases in Mumbai, the builder who was supposed to redevelop their building left the project to rot for years. The residents have since taken matters into their own hands, but they now face an entirely unanticipated problem—a giant, tree-sized hurdle.

After the building was razed in 2010, the plot of land at Chembur’s Tilak Nagar turned into a dumping ground, passers-by throwing half-eaten fruits and vegetable waste there. In the years since, some of the disposed mango seeds and coconuts actually took root there, and have now become the reason the families remain uprooted. The trees inside the private plot have all been numbered—a regular practice by the BMC’s tree authorities to maintain a record of trees in the city and restrict any trimming or axeing without permission.