After the Thane Municipal Commissioner ordered the demolition of illegal buildings across the TMC region, civic officials, along with the police force, arrived in Diva to take action. However, residents from 54 illegal buildings staged a protest, taking to the streets in opposition to the demolition drive.

The protesters accused civic officials of ignoring illegal constructions while they were being built. On Monday, residents expressed their anger by holding patrol bottles and asking officials to allow them to commit mass suicide if their homes were demolished. They also put up an effigy with a noose and displayed it in the middle of a building as a symbolic protest.

A civic official stated that Commissioner Abhijit Bangar held a meeting on Friday evening with Additional Municipal Commissioner Prashant Rode, Assistant Director of Urban Planning Sangram Kanade, Legal Officer Makarand Kale, Deputy Municipal Commissioner Manish Joshi, and other officials. According to TMC officials, Commissioner Bangar emphasized that unauthorized structures must be demolished completely and without delay. There are a total of 769 unauthorized constructions across TMC wards, with 663 of them recorded in the beat diary of beat officers.

One of the residents claimed that their 18-year-old building was suddenly declared illegal by TMC. "The concerned TMC department never served us notices. How can they now order its demolition?" the resident questioned.

Deputy Municipal Commissioner Manish Joshi stated that the TMC is following the eviction process. "Once the belongings of the residents, as well as the residents themselves, are shifted, we will proceed with the demolition of illegal buildings," he said.

Residents also alleged that within a month, TMC declared Anant Park, an illegal building, for demolition. They claimed that officials attempted to demolish it for the fourth time in a month despite not having any High Court orders for demolition.

Dhananjay Munde, a leader from UBT in Diva, said that he, along with Dipesh Mhatre, a UBT leader from Kalyan, and local residents, attended the Janta Durbar of minister Ganesh Naik to discuss the issue of illegal buildings in Diva and Dombivli. Naik assured them that a meeting would be held with TMC officials and other concerned departments to find a solution to the issue.