Even before the Centre and the state started drawing up plans to make Mumbai the Shanghai of India, the politics of slums has come to the centre stage. Last week, state chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh gave go ahead to the razing of illegal slums from various parts of the city. The move followed a detailed plan submitted by Johny Joseph, commissioner of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Accordingly, the BMC squads have started removing illegal slums. The state has a cut off date of 1995.