Mumbai: BMC yet to give Shimpoli playground encroachers the boot

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) seems to be turning a deaf ear to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mann Ki Baat. The PM in one of his monthly programmes spoke about the importance of playgrounds, which help keep the youth of the country physically fit.

The R Central ward office, however, is yet to clear a massive fruit market from a plot at Shimpoli in Borivli West that had been reserved as a playground. Ironically, the encroached plot falls in the constituency represented by BJP member of Parliament (MP) Gopal Shetty and Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Sunil Rane.

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Two state cabinet members - Sanjay Bansode, minister for sports and youth welfare, and Aditi Tatkare, who holds the women and child development portfolio - had ordered that the encroachment be removed and the ground be used for its intended purpose. The civic administration has yet to act.

When mid-day tried to contact Shetty and Rane, they did not respond to calls and messages. Additional Municipal Commissioner (AMC) Western Suburbs, Sudhakar Shinde asked this reporter to get in touch with Sandhya Nandekar, the R Central ward officer, as he was travelling. However, the latter did not respond to calls and messages.

In May, Manish Dube, an NCP activist, filed a complaint with the BMC against Apna Fruit Market. The complainant urged the civic body to get rid of the encroachers and clear the plot reserved for the playground. However as no action was taken, the issue was escalated to Mantralaya.

In August, NCP leaders Bansode and Tatkare received a complaint about a plot off Link Road in Borivli that was being commercially exploited by a wholesale and retail fruit vendor. Immediately both ministers, on the complaint letter itself, passed a remark requesting BMC chief Iqbal Singh Chahal to take action. mid-day is in possession of the letter that has been marked to the municipal administrator.

On September 9, BMC issued a speaking order stating that documents submitted by owner/occupier were not satisfactory and could not be considered as proof/documentary evidence to prove the authentication of the structures. "Structures are not authorised or approved by the competent authority of the BMC. Hence, you (owner /occupier) are directed to remove the structures within 24 hours from the date of receipt of this speaking order. Failing which the same will be demolished by the BMC at your (owner/occupier) risk and cost (sic)," the notice, a copy of which is in mid-day's possession, read.

Mukesh Gupta, an advocate privy to the case, stated that the BMC is dealing with the offenders with kid gloves. "It has been over three weeks since the notice was issued. If the structure was not removed voluntarily, as asked by the BMC in its notice, the local ward office should have cleared it by now. But, encroachment remains on the ground and business continues as usual," he said.

Gupta said that he would file an application through the Right to Information (RTI) Act to find how many times the BMC had sought police protection to demolish the fruit market. "The reply will clear the ambiguity. If BMC has not asked for police protection, it means that besides serving the notice, it has done nothing in this case. If they have asked for protection and not gone ahead with the demolition, then something is fishy. In both scenarios, fingers will be pointed at the civic administration for going slow when it comes to acting against the encroachers," he added.

The president of the Apna Fruit Market, Rajiv Mishra, refused to speak on the issue. A market vendor claimed that the plot in question is not a playground, but a recreation ground. He said that, to the best of his knowledge, there was a dispute going on in the court between the owner of the plot and the BMC over compensation and other issues. However, when this reporter cited that the article is not about ownership, title or compensation but pertains to the construction of unauthorised sheds and fruit market, he received no reply.

Sept 9
Day BMC issued speaking order