Illegal part of Dharavi mosque won't be razed; situation calm, says Mumbai cop

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has called off its drive to demolish an allegedly illegal section of a mosque in Dharavi Asiarsquos largest slum following largescale protests by locals news agency ANI reportedTejaswi Satpute Deputy Commissioner of Police Zone 5 Mumbai stated that the situation in Dharavi is calmA large crowd had gathered on 90foot road in Dharavi but they dispersed after being requested to leave The situation is now peaceful There are several misleading messages circulating on social media I urge people not to trust these messagesrdquo she saidDCP Zone 5 Mumbai Tejaswi Satpute confirmed a large crowd gathered on 90 Feet Road in Dharavi but dispersed peacefullySatpute reassured that the environment in Dharavi is peaceful and urged citizens not to believe misleading messages circulating on social mediaSource ANIhellip httpstcooo2sqdSvqj pictwittercomdcUOaI1e7Nmdash Mid Day mid_day September 21 2024According to BMC a notice had been issued regarding the removal of encroachments on the 90foot road where the mosque is locatedldquoAction was taken in line with this notice However BMC has decided to give a four to fiveday deadline for the encroached structure to be removed voluntarily The trustees of the mosque have submitted a written request to the Deputy Commissioner of Circle 2 and the Assistant Commissioner of G North Division assuring that the encroached section will be removed within this period BMC has accepted this request and clarified that the trustees have been instructed to remove the illegal structure within the stipulated timerdquo a statement from the municipal administration readMaharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis noted that the decision to demolish the Mumbai mosque was based on a court orderldquoThe court order mandates the demolition of unauthorised structures BMC began the process a few days ago but at that time a request was made to postpone the demolition until after Eid Today when a BMC team arrived they were again requested to allow four to five more days for the removal of the encroachment The team has since returned However it is unacceptable for anyone to create a lawandorder problem or obstruct the process I am confident that they will adhere to their written commitment to the BMCrdquo he saidCommenting on the matter Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad said ldquoTodays action has been cancelled We met the Chief Minister last night and urged him to stop it Everyone here expressed their views peacefully It has been cancelled and people have returned home I appeal to everyone to maintain peacerdquoShiv Sena UBT leader Aditya Thackeray added ldquoThis is part of a larger plan to incite HinduMuslim riots and create division Such things never occurred under our government They speak in terms of caste and religion while their children run the ICC and BCCI living abroadrdquoWith ANI inputs