BMC agrees to remove fire engine from Priyadarshini Park

The court was hearing a plea filed by the Malabar Hill Citizens Forum against the BMC’s decision to park the fire engine inside the sprawling park by erecting a shed.

According to an earlier order passed by the court, the civic body was supposed to maintain status quo as on June 13, 2017, before the fire station was parked there. The court pointed out that it was not hearing this issue on merit at present and the BMC first needed to comply with the earlier court orders of June 19, of removing the fire engine and the temporary shed.

The fire engine was stationed at the park on June 14, 2017. “You had earlier told us that it was not obstructing the path of the walkers and joggers. But the committee report states that this is not the case. This may lead to an accident. You have taken undue advantage of the situation. We are very unhappy. You kept telling us that it was not obstructing anyone’s way,” said Chief Justice Manjula Chellur.

Earlier this month, the court had appointed the committee to inspect the Priyadarshani Park in the Napean Sea Road area to look into this issue.

The BMC had on its part argued that the fire engine occupied only a 10 square metre area in the park and that it was parked there for the residents’ safety. The civic body had also said it had no other space to park the fire engine.
With the BMC initially maintaining its stand Monday, the Chief Justice said: “If you don’t remove the fire engine by tomorrow (Tuesday) then imprisonment has to be undergone by officers concerned. They (officers) think they can get away with everything. What are they going to lose if they remove the fire engine? So many accidents take place due to potholes on roads but suddenly why are you so responsible?”

The civic body then decided to concede and remove the structure and the fire engine from the park.