BMC removes fire engine, but public fume at damage'

Mumbai: The Malabar Hill residents were left aghast on Tuesday after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) caused, even more, damage to the walking and jogging track while removing the contentious fire engine and shed as per the Bombay high court orders. According to residents, the soil on the tracks was corroded, and potholes were left in the wake of the removal. The residents said they would inform the high court of the damage in the next hearing on Wednesday.

According to advocate Kalpesh Joshi, who appears on behalf of the Malabar Hill Citizen Forum in the ongoing public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay high court, the removal work started on Tuesday morning. “The BMC brought a JCB and trucks to remove the shed and steel sheets they had placed within the shed. After the shed was dismantled and everything was loaded on the trucks, the vehicles made their way out of the park. In the process they caused further damage to the walking and jogging tracks,” said Mr Joshi.

He also said that when the residents objected and brought the damage to the tracks to the notice of the BMC and fire officials present at the spot, they did not pay heed and were extremely rude too.

“Apart from the tracks, the Shahbad tiles were also damaged during the removal process,” said Mr Joshi, adding that the residents are now left with the task of repairing the damage to make it usable again. “The residents will have to spend lakhs of rupees to get the damage repaired. Till then, the tracks are unsafe due to the craters formed by the heavy vehicles. It seems the BMC officials out of spite caused more damage,” he said.

‘Plot reserved, but outside park’

The Malabar Hill Citizen Forum has said that while a government notification in July 1991 clearly said a plot of land adjacent to the Priyadarshani Park was reserved for a fire station and post office, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was trying to force itself into the park as the reserved plot was in possession of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and was not willing to part with it.
According to the chronology of events placed on record in the Bombay high court by the Malabar Hill Citizens Forum, in 1980 the state government passed a resolution wherein the 69,735 sq m of reclaimed sea land was to be developed as maidan, garden, park, green area, etc. A portion of the land was to be reserved for fire brigade office and post office. In 1984, the forum had proposed the reservations of the two facilities to be on the northern end of the park. At the time, the proposed reservation was in possession of the Public Works Department (PWD) and it was construed the fire station and post office would come up as soon as the PWD handed over the plot to BMC.

However, the PWD did not hand over the plot and the same was taken over by the MSRDC for the Western Freeway Sea Link in 2002.

Since then the BMC had been trying to encroach upon the park area to construct the fire station resulting in petitions and notice of motions being filed from 2004 to 2007. The current hearings in the Bombay high court are of the same petitions and motions.