Day after MBMC demolition drive in Mira Bhayander, BMC bulldozes 40 structures in Muslim-dominated Mohammed Ali Road

When contacted, BMC officials said all the structures that were brought down on Mohammed Ali Road were illegal encroachments and were pulled down to free up space on the footpaths.

A visit to the area showed that almost all the structures that were demolished were awnings of existing commercial establishments, including shops, located on Ibrahim Mohamed Merchant Road and stalls of hawkers. Some of the key commercial entities affected by Wednesday’s drive include Noorani Milk Centre and Suleman Usman Mithaiwala, whose origins date back to the 1930s.

Municipal authorities demolished in the morning portions of alleged unauthorized structures and additional shades of the many shops inside the Galli next to Minara Masjid on Mohammad Ali Road. (Express photo by Amit chakravarty)

While the BMC carried out the drive on Mohammed Ali Road, there were no reports of any such drive by the civic body in any other ward. At least 10 ward offices that The Indian Express contacted confirmed that no anti-encroachment drive was carried out in their wards. Mumbai has a total of 24 administrative ward offices. A couple of ward offices said they have been working on Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s ‘deep cleaning’ initiative that mostly entails removal of illegal vendors.

When contacted, an official from BMC’s removal of encroachment department said, “At present there are local drives being taken up in all municipal wards as part of CM’s ‘deep cleaning’ drive. For which, we are removing small roadside eateries and vendors to ensure the pavements stay clean. This drive has been operational since first week of December.”

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday demolished nearly 40 structures on the Ibrahim Merchant Road including the extension of the well-known Sulaiman Usman Bakery. pic.twitter.com/bZGg4QnUhr

— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) January 24, 2024

The opposition parties, including the Congress, questioned the action against a “particular community”.

Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe said the “bulldozer culture” should be opposed as it is not constitutional. “Use of bulldozers is not the constitutional way to act against unauthorised constructions. A proper legal procedure of hearing and notices being served should be followed. One also wonders why such actions are always targeted at particular communities. It should be stopped,” he said.

Samajwadi Party MLA from Bhiwandi, Rais Shaikh said, “The government is doing all this because elections are coming. They single out one particular community and they think that by doing so they would be able to please the other one. But they are mistaken. This would in fact go against them. Maharashtra has been a land of saints,” said.

Speaking to The Indian Express, shopowners maintained that the move came as a surprise as there was no prior warning or notice issued by the civic authority on the demolition drive.

The civic authorities also maintained that no notice was issued ahead of Wednesday’s drive. “These stalls are temporary structures and not legal. Therefore, they don’t have a proper recipient address, as a result we didn’t issue them any notice and took direct action on Wednesday,” a BMC official said.

A senior official from BMC’s B ward, where Mohammed Ali Road falls, said, “Last week we carried out an anti-encroachment drive to identify illegal structures that were blocking pedestrian space. Following this, we took action on Wednesday morning and demolished nearly 40 structures on Ibrahim Merchant Road that were creating obstruction on footpaths.”

Operating since 1936, Noorani Milk Centre and Suleman Usman Mithaiwala are among the oldest shops of the area. Jilani Noorani of Noorani Milk Centre, which was among the shops whose awnings were razed on Wednesday, told The Indian Express, “The last time such a drive was carried out was nearly five years back.”

A fifth-generation owner of the shop, Noorani added, “My father was at the shop when they arrived around 8.30 am. All the shops have put up awnings outside as protection from the sun and rain. When the BMC arrived today, our shed was rolled up. First, they tried to move the glass cases displaying sweets. As they were heavy, they started removing the awning instead. We did not say anything, neither the BMC said anything to us.”

Following the demolition, Noorani has been receiving frantic calls from his relatives. “All TV channels are airing the news, family members have been calling us,” he said.

“When the drive happened in the morning, there were not many hawkers as most hawkers set up shops in the evening. The BMC keeps removing hawkers regularly but drives against shopowners is highly unusual,” he added.

Meanwhile, the 88-year-old establishment, Suleman Usman Mithaiwala — the biggest shop of the lane comprising four shopping windows — incurred the maximum losses. According to a staffer at the shop, the civic body razed their awning resulting in losses of nearly Rs 2 lakh.

“This shop has been there since 1936. But the BMC has never carried out such drives at our shop. This has happened for the first time. When they started breaking the shops, we did not raise our voice as everyone was afraid and confused,” said a worker at Suleman Usman Mithaiwala, requesting anonymity.

Abdul Hasim, the third-generation owner of the Janata multi-cuisine restaurant, whose awning was also demolished, said, “The BMC just came in the morning and razed the shed without any warnings and notices. We had put up the awning as it offers protection from the sun and rain. If the civic body has an issue with these structures, then they should have told us about this. We would have removed it ourselves. We have now incurred a loss of nearly Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000.”

On January 21, a clash had broken out between members of two communities in Mira Bhayander. A group passing by in vehicles with saffron flags and chanting slogans was stopped by some local people from another community. An argument broke out, leading to violence.

Officials of the MBMC on Tuesday took bulldozers to Haidary Chowk, which is close to the place where the violence erupted Sunday night, and removed encroachments from about 15 structures.