HDFC's Fort office to remove spikes outside office after sharp tweets by scribe

Simon Mundy tweeted this picture of the spikes on Sunday

A day after a foreign journalist tweeted about spikes installed outside the Fort branch of HDFC Bank to keep loiterers away, the bank has now apologised and promised to remove the barbs.

Financial reporter Simon Mundy's post was retweeted over 1,600 times within a matter of hours, forcing the bank to sit up and take notice. Many social media users called the spikes "most heartless" and "inhuman".

'Insensitive, dangerous'
Mundy had posted a sharp, one-line tweet: "An eyecatching response to Mumbai's homelessness crisis from HDFC Bank (Fort branch)."
The Mumbai correspondent for the Financial Times told mid-day, "I noticed the spikes last afternoon (Sunday) as I was walking past the branch. I haven't contacted HDFC Bank about it.

Simon Mundy, journalist

"It reminded me of defensive architecture installed in London to prevent homeless people from sleeping outside commercial premises, which attracted a great deal of public controversy. I noted, however, that the spikes outside this HDFC Bank branch were far longer and sharper than those I had seen photographed in the UK and could cause grave injury to anyone who fell on them - there appeared a particular risk of this happening as the passageway outside the branch is narrow and crowded. Besides being an ugly, insensitive response to Mumbai's serious homelessness problem, the spikes appeared dangerous to the general public."

All of a Twitter
Many on Twitter agreed with Mundy, and even tagged the Mumbai Police while retweeting his post.

In a second tweet, Mundy added, "As others have pointed out, these anti-homeless spikes from HDFC Bank Fort branch are not only a depressing gesture towards Mumbai's many rough sleepers, but could also impale any pedestrian unlucky enough to trip and fall in this crowded passageway."

One of the responders posted: "Apart from their total lack of empathy to the homeless, they should be prosecuted for putting up a public safety hazard - someone could fall on these spikes and die." "This is illegal, unsafe and a pedestrian hazard," said another user, Adrian Correa, who also tagged the police.

HDFC Bank responded to Mundy's tweet the same day as well. Neeraj Jha, head of Corporate Communications, thanked the journalist for bringing the matter to their attention, and added, "We are having it removed and we sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to the public."

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