29 June,2014 05:57 AM IST | | Chetna Sadadekar
With all eyes trained on the ongoing Campa Cola demolition, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of G north ward, Sharad Ugade, made the most of this opportunity by clearing encroachments below the busy area last week
With the demolition of the illegal structures in the Campa Cola compound at Worli garnering a lot of public attention, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of G north ward, Sharad Ugade, made the most of this opportunity by clearing encroachments below the Dadar flyover last week.
Not only the stalls under the flyover but also Avni (Anna Vastri Nivara) canteen, which was set up by the Shiv Sena, the ruling party at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) about a decade ago, was demolished.
Various plans of evicting the hawkers and the hutments have proved futile over the years. But on June 21, Ugade decided to take matters in his own hands and ensured that all illegal structures were demolished by June 23.
Avni, a canteen-type structure, which had two metal grills and blocked a major part of the area below the flyover, wasn't removed earlier as at that time, the Sena was the ruling party at BMC. But as the Campa Cola demolition issue sent the media and political parties into a frenzy, Ugade realised this was the right time to strike.
However, when contacted, he said, "This was just a part of the regular demolition drives that we were carrying out in my jurisdiction. This action had been pending since a long time."
But a BMC officer confirmed, requesting anonymity, "We took this action when the politicians were busy with the Campa Cola issue as the demolition drive was pending since a long time. Earlier, we had to withhold the action."
