MM Mithaiwala among 19 shops demolished in Malad Station for road-widening

The demolition work was undertaken a day after the Dindoshi city civil court refused to restrain the BMC from proceeding with it. One of the property owners, Suresh Gupta, had moved the court, contending that structures on private lands could not be demolished unless the land was acquired

Mumbai: Malad’s iconic M M Mithaiwala came under the BMC’s bulldozer, along with 19 other shops, for a road-widening project on Friday. The sweet shop, and other well-known snack places such as Delhi Sweets and Jalpan Snacks, were demolished on account of their being a major traffic bottleneck on Anand Road, adjoining Malad West railway station. This road primarily caters to BEST buses and vehicles heading to and from the station.

Mumbai, India - April 28, 2023: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) demolished the renowned 'MM Mithaiwala' and 'Delhi Sweets' sweet shops alongside Anand Road along with 19 other shops in order to widen the road, outside Malad Station (West), in Mumbai, India, on Friday, April 28, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

The demolition work was undertaken a day after the Dindoshi city civil court refused to restrain the BMC from proceeding with it. One of the property owners, Suresh Gupta, had moved the court, contending that structures on private lands could not be demolished unless the land was acquired. The court rejected Gupta’s plea for a stay on the demolition after the BMC counsel, Dharmendra Vyas, pointed out that the structures needed to be removed as part of infrastructure work to clear the bottleneck near Malad railway station.

Vyas emphasised that the BMC had been corresponding with the property owners since November 2022, and Gupta was eligible to get an alternative tenement. Incidentally, the structures at this location have a past history of being on the marked list of even G R Khairnar, the redoubtable former civic official known as the Demolition Man.

Malad station’s several specialty markets, including those of artificial jewellery and fish, with a footfall of 1.2 lakh people every day, would create a major hurdle for traffic and day-to-day commuting. The P North ward office thus took up the road-widening project, in which 199 structures will be affected.

Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner of the ward told HT that Phase 1, which was carried out on Friday, had achieved a road width of 13.40 metres, which would significantly ease the path for traffic and daily commuters. A civic official from P North ward added that the road width would now be 44 feet as against the earlier 20 feet. “These structures were there in the time of G R Khairnar, and old-timers tell us about how demolitions were staunchly opposed in the past,” he said. “But we went ahead with this demolition on a war footing.”

The BMC will compensate the owners by giving them FSI benefits on their reconstructed property and other benefits as per BMC rules. “Most owners gave their consent for the compensation,” said the civic official. “Some of them did approach the court but were turned down on the grounds that the road-widening project was necessary.”

Fifteen civic engineers, four Poclain machines, two JCBs, four dumpers and 49 labourers were deployed for the demolition.

Similar demolition in Ghatkopar

N ward in Ghatkopar undertook a similar demolition by razing two prominent juice centres at Vallabh Bagh near Odion Shopping Centre in Ghatkopar East. The demolition was conducted on the request of the traffic police, as Patel Juice Centre and Agarwal Juice Centre were reportedly causing traffic jams and the location was also accident-prone.

A civic official from N ward’s maintenance department told Hindustan Times that the two juice shops used to operate till 2 am. “In order to reduce the crowd and the bottleneck on that road, the police asked us to shift them,” he said. The BMC then issued letters for demolition to both the juice centres, whose owners, in turn, moved the city civil court.

“Patel Juice Centre withdrew its case and agreed to accept alternative accommodation,” said the civic official. “The place has been sanctioned and the shop will be shifted. “Agarwal Juice Centre’s case was dismissed, but they were asked to appeal in the Bombay high court within 15 days a couple of months ago. The owners did that, but the matter did not come up on board. They visited N ward in the morning and asked for alternate accommodation and we are working it out. Patel Juice Centre has been provided alternate accommodation at MP Vaidya Marg junction.”