Mumbai: No action against errant Bandra eatery because BMC office shuts at 5 pm?

Door No. 1

There's no overtime in BMC's book, no matter the illegal activities going on brazenly. It turns out that's the reason Door No. 1 in the ONGC Colony lane at Bandra Reclamation is continuing to operate despite a closure notice from the civic body - mid-day found the restaurant functioning surreptitiously at night, while keeping shutters down during the day, but authorities won't lift a finger because "shift ends at 5 pm".

The civic body has suspended the eating licences of Door No. 1 and Candies, and yet, both are continuing to run unabashedly. When mid-day did an online search of "Door No. 1", we found out that the eatery has even slated some events, from February 20 to 24, on its premises.

Health department officials had inspected the place and found that the owner had encroached on the space in front of the eatery and was illegally using it to serve patrons. Pic/Sameer Markande

Fixed duty hours!
On Thursday, mid-day had reported how H-west (Bandra West) ward's health department and the local fire station had suspended Door No. 1's eating licence and revoked its fire NOC over unauthorised construction and violation of fire safety norms. Apart from this, notices have been issued to Cafe 123 and Desiree Cake Studio as well.

Also read: Mumbai: BMC pulls down shutters on illegal Bandra restobar that violated fire safety norms

Local Kaushal Bhatia, who stays in Sea View Building next to ONGC Colony and has been fighting against this nuisance, said, "I was shocked to see that even after suspension of licence and revocation of the fire NOC, it was business as usual at Door No. 1. According to norms, if health licence has been suspended, the eatery can't function till it complies with the conditions.

"On Thursday, I met fire officer from Bandra Fire Station P A Sawant and health officer of H-west ward Sudhir Salunkhe and told them about the restaurant operating sans licence. While Sawant said further action, like closure, can be taken by the health officer, Salunkhe told me that when they visited the spot, the eatery was shut. So, I clarified that it was operating at night, to which Sawant mentioned that as their [health department's] office shuts at 5 pm, they can't do much after that. What's the point of taking action then?"

"Salunkhe told me to approach the ward officer and said he will send a team to the spot again to check," added Bhatia.

Also read: Mumbai safety audit: A Kamala Mills waiting to happen in Bandra lane

So far…
Health department officials had inspected the place and found that the owner had encroached on the space in front of the eatery and was illegally using it to serve patrons. Information provided by the fire officer had also revealed that a fire NOC had been issued but, till date, none of the conditions had been complied with.

The fire officer had also said that due to the open space in front of the eatery remaining permanently enclosed, the restaurant was a fire trap with no proper entry-exit point.

Also read: Bandra lane firetrap: No action despite notice issued; ward officer's role questioned

BJP MLA Ashish Shelar had even met Additional Municipal Commissioner (western suburbs) I A Kundan regarding the unauthorised construction and fire safety violations of eateries in the ONGC Colony lane and had written two letters to Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta about the same, demanding action. Despite repeated attempts, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of H-west ward Sharad Ughade remained unavailable for comment.

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