BMC will ignore ’64 cut off to demolish illegal shrines

“We have decided to demolish all those illegal shrines and religious structures on roads,” said R B Bhosale,Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Special). Under the first phase of the demolition drive,all illegal obstructions on footpaths and roads will be removed,Bhosale said.

According to R W Pawar,Assistant Municipal Commissioner of K West (Andheri),“Those structures which are hindering road alignment and obstructing traffic will necessarily be demolished unless people want to shift them to another location. As there are structures which hinder traffic and cause obstruction to other utility services which are constructed before 1964,we will have to demolish them also”.

According to another official involved in the demolition drive,structures that do not obstruct traffic or movement of any other utility service will not be demolished if they are legal. The mass demolition orders were taken by the BMC following Supreme Court directives in an interim order on December 7,2009. On October 4,2010,the state government issued a notification asking all municipal bodies to take action against illegal shrines.

“I am surprised that the BMC is including even those structures which were built before 1964 and we will not allow them to be demolished,” said Dereyk Talker,activist,Wake Up Bandra initiative. Residents and activists from Bandra who have been lining up to protest against the demolitions say they should be given time to shift structures. “Also those structures for which all legal papers are available should not be demolished as most of these structures are historic and have sentimental and religious importance for the Christain community,” said Talker referring to the demolition order of various crosses in roads in and around Bandra.