Activists have sent several letters to the civic body to remove the booths that reportedly only house rats, drunkards and drug addicts
The milk booth at King's Circle where a dead body was found last week. Pic/Bipin Kokate
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Abandoned Aarey milks booths in the Matunga East area have become a nuisance for residents, with activists demanding that the authorities do something about them at the earliest. Residents claim that the half a dozen defunct milk booths in the area are now safe havens for rats, drunkards and drug addicts at night. Also, last week, the body of a drunk was found inside the booth located near the famous Koolar & Co Restaurant at Maheshwari Udyan.
Even after several letters from activists on demolishing the defunct booths, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is yet to take any concrete action. A member of F-north (ward) Citizens Federation and local resident, Nikhil Desai, has written multiple letters to the F-North (Matunga) ward about these booths. "I have been following this issue for the past year but nothing much has been done. There are dozens of such defunct booths in the F-North ward. A dead body being found inside one is the last straw."
He added, "Officials from Matunga police station said it could be suicide. But, why keep such defunct 'furniture' on footpaths in the first place? The BMC told me that they will survey all such booths in the ward and demolish them, but, nothing has been done yet."
According to reports, there were about 1,800 Aarey milk booths across the city, but, most of them are shut as they were running up losses. These booths were meant for selling Aarey milk products. When contacted, Executive Engineer of F-North ward Namdeo Talpe said, "I will have to check the complaints as they could have gone to the maintenance department. I will check on Monday and get all the details of the issue."
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