Land acquisition notice withdrawn but Catholics want DP amended

On Tuesday evening, St Peter’s Church in Bandra organised a peaceful prayer march attended by local members of the Catholic community. The gesture was to make community members aware of the BMC’s plan to claim a small piece of the Catholic cemetery for widening the adjacent Kadeshwari Mata Mandir Marg

Mumbai: On Tuesday evening, St Peter’s Church in Bandra organised a peaceful prayer march attended by local members of the Catholic community. The gesture was to make community members aware of the BMC’s plan to claim a small piece of the Catholic cemetery for widening the adjacent Kadeshwari Mata Mandir Marg.

Mumbai, India - January 10, 2023: As a mark of protest against BMC's notice to acquire land from the century-old St. Peter's Seaside Cemetery for road widening, the Mumbai Catholic Sabha along with Christian community members hold a silent candle light prayer march starting from the main gate of St. Peter's Church to the attached cemetery, at Kadeshwari Mandir Marg, Bandra (West), in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, January 10, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

A notice to this effect, which was served to the church on December 19, was withdrawn by the BMC after an intervention by the local MLA Ashish Shelar. The church, however, said that the withdrawal notice was just a temporary measure, and it wanted the amendment made in the Development Plan (DP).

“In September 2022, the BMC made an amendment in the DP and made Kadeshwari Mata Mandir Marg a major road. The church has already given a piece of land for road expansion of an adjacent road, and now they are asking to expand this as well. We received the withdrawal notice on Monday evening; we will take this further with the BMC after proper legal consultation,” said Father Mascarenhas, the parish priest of St Peter’s Church.

Rita D’Sa, one of the advisors at the NGO ‘Watchdog Foundation’ said, “This is not a vacant piece of land. It is a cemetery, and temporary withdrawal means nothing. Our demand is that this should be withdrawn completely.”

Dolphy D’souza, President of the Bombay Catholic Sabha echoed her sentiments. “There are several available options that exist, and there is an already existing partly developed road,” he said. “The BMC can develop that by clearing the encroachments on it. Why do they want this road when a road parallel to this is partly developed? We want the amendment made in September 2022 DP to be withdrawn. It was done without any consultation with the stakeholders.”

HT has reported that civic officials stressed that only 3.93 feet would be taken from two corners of the Bene Israeli Jewish cemetery and only one corner measuring 3.93 feet from the Catholic cemetery. “The graves will remain untouched,” said an official.