BMC bulldozes shops outside Mulund station: ‘Our livelihood gone, how will we feed our families?’

The remains of shops demolished outside Mulund railway station, on Friday. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

Where are our local representatives? My well-established business ended today, now how will I run my family?" asked one of the 17 people whose shops outside Mulund railway station the BMC demolished on Friday to make way for pedestrians. A team of six junior engineers, three sub engineers and 40 labourers from T ward arrived at the spot at 11 am and gave the shop owners one hour to vacate with their valuables. Under the protection of 25 cops, labourers bulldozed the shops.

"The shop owners were given an hour to remove any valuables or combustible materials stored inside the shops. It took around two hours to demolish the structures, while the process to remove the debris was going on until late in the evening," an official said. Civic officials said they will now focus on clearing the shops on the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Road along the west side of the railway station.

Also read: Mumbai: Row over key Mulund pedestrian stretch

‘Our livelihood gone'

Aggrieved at the action, the owners of the shops ask how will they feed their families now that their livelihood has been snatched. Jayesh Kotak, a shop owner, said, "I had been running my shop here for the past 40 years and nobody had come asking for our documents. We most certainly had all the legal documents and bills. Now, all of a sudden, they razed my only source of livelihood.

The remains of shops demolished outside Mulund railway station, on Friday. Pics/Rajesh Gupta

"Where are our local representatives? They came to ask for votes, but when we needed them the most, they were nowhere to be seen. My well-established business ended today. How will I run my family now?" he asked. Isravati Bhagat Singh said, "My father-in-law rented a place here and started his business, Bajrang Dairy, in the 1950s. Now, the BMC has demolished it. We urge the BMC to give us a well-built shop, because we don't have money to build one again."

The BMC had initiated the action last month, asking the shop owners to vacate. However, when they did not clear, the BMC sought the protection of the Mulund police to raze the shops, which were located at the junction of SVP Road and JSD Road. The police sanctioned the civic body's request for protection on Thursday. The 17 shops were razed for the ease of pedestrians and also to widen the road. The BMC had offered them six different alternative locations to move their business, but shop owners said the options were not feasible, as they won't get many customers.

"It's a significant step to rid Mulund's station area of encroachment. The additional space would be helpful for pedestrians, public transport and emergency vehicles. Today's action was part of phase 2. Now, we will start acting on phase 3, which includes removing shops on SVP Road," Chakrapani Alle, assistant municipal commissioner, T ward, said. During the demolition work, a pay-and-use toilet between two shops developed cracks and the BMC had raze it, too, over safety concerns.