The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s attempt to vacate shops on the ground floor of Chhatrapati Shivaji Ma-haraj Municipal Market building evoked strong protests from fishermen on Friday. Opposing the BMC’s drive, the irate fishermen insisted on alternative accommodation before vacating the building. Following the Dockyard Road building collapse, in which 61 people were killed, the BMC has expedited the evacuation process of dilapidated structures in the city. The civic body had declared the market building on Paltan Road as dangerous. On October 1, the civic body had also issued a seven-day notice to shop owners in the building to vacate the place. The notice said that failure to comply with the warning would lead to registration of criminal offence against occupants. Even the water and electricity supply would be cut. However, despite the seven-day notice, when the BMC men came on Friday and asked fishermen on ground floor to vacate the building, the fishermen protested, demanding for alternative accommodation and clarity on the plans about repairs or redevelopment of the building. “We received the notice on Thursday only. If the BMC has given us seven days time to vacate the shops, how can the civic officials came on Friday to vacate our shops forcefully How can they expect us to shift all our belongings within a day ” asked Ashok Lokhande, one of the occupants. The fishermen’s delegation later called upon mayor Sunil Prabhu and requested him to intervene against the drive. They claimed that the building is not dangerous and hence, didn’t need to be evacuated. The mayor assured them of providing alternative accommodation for shifting. Rajhans Tapke, general secretary of Koli Maha-sangh, said that there is no clarity on where they would be relocated. “The civic administration just wants us to vacate the building premises immediately. We want to know whether the building will be repaired or redeveloped, and when we will get the possession of our shops again,” he said.
