Lower Parel shopkeepers unwilling to relocate for ROB

Mumbai: Nearly 173 shopkeepers at Lower Parel - who will be relocated to make space for the Road over Bridge (ROB) - have refused to move into the alternate space provided by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The shopkeepers said that the new spaces provided by the BMC were not in good condition. On the other hand, the civic body has threatened to move all of them to Mahul if they are not happy with the space provided to them in the same locality.

The ROB has been planned at the Deslisle road bridge, near Lower Parel railway station at N.M. Joshi Marg. The BMC is forcibly shifting nearly 173 shops located near the station area. They have been asked to move into the Prof Dadasaheb Khamkar Mandai market which is near the bridge.

“We had given our place to MHADA for developing a building in the 70s. MHADA developed a building in which nearly 100 tenants are living currently. The market is on the ground floor of the building and is not in good condition. The place is very small. There is not enough space to accommodate everyone there,” said Chandrakant Malusare, a shop owner. He also said that on Sunday, more than 400 people visit the market and if anything untoward happened, people would not get a chance to even escape as there was not enough space to move out.

The Asian Age tried to contact BMC officer Sangeeta Hasnale but she did not reply to our message or calls.

Tukaram Patil pointed out that around 40 years ago, the then mayor and other leaders and BMC officials had told them not to shift to the said market where the BMC wanted to relocate them now. “That market is still in the same condition so what is the reason BMC wants us to shift to that market now? Why is BMC hesitating to give us on paper?” he asked.

Yamuna Shivdikar (70) who travels from Shivadi says it is the family’s fourth generation selling fish at the present location and she doesn’t want to shift to the market. Vatsala Kharde who comes from Versova said, “We make regular payments to BMC. In return, we don’t get any facility but we somehow manage. But now they are snatching our jobs. Most of us are the only earners in our family.”

Shop owners from Prof Dadasheb Khamkar Mandai Vyapari Mandal protested the BMC’s handling by keeping the shop shut for a day. Other shop-owners supported them in their protest.

Owners are demanding a written assurance from the BMC for last six months. But in return, they have been threatened saying if they didn’t move, they would be shifted to Mahul.