Crawford Market shopkeepers to go on strike
The hustle and bustle at the Mahatma Jotiba Phule Mandai, formerly known as Crawford Market, is likely to cease as over 500 shopkeepers have threatened to go on indefinite strike from February 2. The strike has been organised to protest the restoration work undertaken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The vendors have alleged that the BMC has neither taken them into confidence in the restoration works nor given them any information about the project.
There are 585 shops in the 147-year old market, which is also a heritage structure. The three-year Crawford Market restoration project is being carried out by the BMC since September 2014. The project has been implemented in a phase-wise manner so that the market is not evacuated completely while carrying out restoration works. The first phase is being carried out in the clock tower wing of the market that has around 15 shops.
However, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai Shopkeepers Association has alleged that the restoration works are not being carried out as per the plan given by the BMC. They have claimed the sample shops which were shown to them are different from which they are being handed over. Ratnakar Karale, president of the association, said, “We have informed the authorities about our grievances regarding restoration of our shops. However, there has been no response from BMC. We had made changes to our existing shops and even paid BMC a premium for this. But we are not happy with the kind of shops we have been given after restoration.”