Mumbai: Row over key Mulund pedestrian stretch

The shops that BMC plans to demolish, outside Mulund railway station. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

The civic body is preparing to demolish 17 shops along the road to railway station in Mulund West for a road-widening project and to provide relief to the pedestrians, officials said on Tuesday. A local resident claimed that the land is his ancestral property, but the BMC has the approval of the HC.

T Ward officials on Saturday gave the shop owners 48 hours to vacate and move to one of the alternative options, however, they have not abided by the notice. The BMC told the owners they can move their shops to any of the six locations in Mulund.

"We have requested protection from the Mulund police and are awaiting their approval. Once we have the protection, the demolition work will start. We are hoping to carry out the work on Thursday or on Friday," a civic official said. The 17 shops are at the junction of JSD Road, where Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Road connects. Plan is afoot to demolish other shops along SVP Road, civic officials said.

‘BMC's options won't work'

"I have been doing business at this spot since the past 20 years. I pay the rent for the shop to run my juice centre. The BMC gave my landowner six options for relocation, but none of them are appropriate for business. This will hamper not just my livelihood, but of my two workers, too," said Satyanarayan Gupta, owner of JMD juice centre.

A board declaring the private ownership of the land

"The third generation of our family is running the business here. A couple of years ago, a few shops were demolished and the shop owners were given an alternative spot near Mulund Fire Brigade, but they didn't shift. We have been given a place near Johnson and Johnson, ACC Factory, where there is hardly any crowd," Rinku Pandey, owner of Khiladi pan bhandar.

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What was the hurdle?

The BMC had been planning to demolish the shops for a long time, but one Surendra Subhedar Singh has claimed ownership of the land on which the 17 structures are built. He even approached the courts.

The BMC had last year issued him notice under Section 314 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act, 1888 for the removal of the "unauthorised structures on civic lands". However, Singh contested, saying that his ancestor Jamadar Singh Gokul Singh had constructed the 17 stalls in Mulund West and now he has been collecting rent from them.

Court orders

The civic body got the permission to tear down the shops when the Bombay High Court, on February 16, dismissed Singh's appeal against a civic court order. On January 23, the civic court rejected his plea to restrain the BMC from demolishing the shops.

The 17 shops are at the junction of JSD Road, where SVP Road connects. Pics/Rajesh Gupta

Advocates Dharmesh Vyas and Smita Tondwalkar, appearing for the BMC in court, however, had said that the land belonged to the civic body and Singh had no documentary evidence to show that he or any of his predecessors owned it, and if any permissions were taken for constructing the stalls.

They told the court that the land is required for the widening of JSD Road and for setting up a drainage system to prevent water logging in the station area during monsoon. The HC had observed that the civil court's order was well reasoned and it had taken into consideration all the relevant documents.

‘It belongs to my ancestors'

"The land, measuring 175 square metre, belongs to my ancestors from 1949. We have been paying taxes for this non-agricultural plot. Suddenly, the BMC cancelled our property card and told us that we are not the owner. We have filed one more suit in civil court and it will be heard on March 13," Singh said.

Chakrapani Alle, assistant municipal commissioner, T ward, said, "After receiving the high court order, we gave the stall owners six alternative options to relocate, but there is no decision yet. However, we issued notices to the stall owners on Saturday, February 25, asking them to vacate in 48 hours."

"The area is crucial for us as far as traffic and different projects are concerned. Once this demolition occurs, we will go ahead and demolish the rest of the stalls on SVP Road," he added.