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Water supply to ‘extremely dangerous’ Turbhe market restored after dogged protest
Traders at the market were given an undertaking that they shall be responsible in case of any untoward incident in the dilapidated market
NAVI MUMBAI: Four days after the water supply of the wholesale APMC onion-potato market in Turbhe was disconnected, to force traders out of the ‘extremely dangerous’ building, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) on Monday restored the connection.
The decision came following a massive morcha held by traders who were given an undertaking that they shall be responsible in case of any untoward incident in the dilapidated market.
NMMC has been issuing notices since 2004-2005 when the market with 234 galas was declared as C1 category, requiring it to be vacated and demolished immediately. For the first time, the civic body disconnected the water supply to the wholesale market on June 20. It had also asked the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) to disconnect electricity to the market. It was done to force the traders to vacate as there have been incidents of ceiling and plaster falls in the market over the years.
Redevelopment proposals meanwhile, have been stuck due to various reasons of opposition, FSI issues and costs involved. With the conditions in the entire market worsening, NMMC has recently issued a notice to APMC to get a structural audit done of all its buildings located in various complexes.
Thousands of people, including traders, mathadis and retailers work and visit the market which supplies agricultural produce to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) area.
With difficulties being faced due to the water cut and the impending electricity cut, mathadi leader Narendra Patil led a massive morcha to the NMMC headquarters in Belapur threatening rasta roko. He later held a meeting with municipal commissioner Kailas Shinde. “Mathadis do the hard manual work in the market and the lack of water here is making life difficult for them as there’s no potable water nor one can use toilets. Therefore, we decided to go to the civic headquarters and demand the restoration of the water supply.”
When they reached the civic headquarters, Patil said, municipal commissioner Kailas Shinde was empathetic to their problems but also emphasised that the safety of workers in the market is of utmost importance
“The commissioner said that if the traders give it in writing that they will be responsible for any untoward incident in the market and safety of those working there then he will not have a problem in restoring the water supply. The traders agreed to this and Shinde then instructed the water supply authorities to restore the connection,” said Patil.
When HT reached out to Shinde explained the onion potato market must be vacated as the building had been declared extremely dangerous and that the civic body had issued notices. There was even a report of a ceiling collapse in the APMC secretary’s office last week, pointed out Shinde who said they are doing this to protect people’s lives.
“The delegation assured me that they will give in writing that they are ready to take responsibility for any untoward incident and that they will take all precautions to prevent it.”
APMC secretary P L Khandagale had earlier said, “We are working on a redevelopment proposal, and it should be finalised soon. Meanwhile, we are looking at options to shift the market. There is a plot near the Mafco market and some new buildings, which have not been sold yet, where the traders can shift. The auction hall in the market will be repaired to house the traders.”
Shiv Sena intervened on traders’ request
Former municipal commissioner and Shiv Sena Upneta Vijay Nahata spoke to commissioner Kailas Shinde to help resolve the issue following an appeal by the market traders.
Nahata said, “The leading traders and their office bearers had approached me on Sunday asking for help. I found that the market is not in a very dilapidated state and hence spoke to the municipal commissioner.”
He added, “He instructed deputy municipal commissioner Rahul Gethe, who then spoke to me. Today morning he initiated measures to restore the water supply and assured there will be no electricity disconnection.”
Said wholesale trader Sanjay Pingle, “99% of our galas in the market are in good condition as we have taken necessary measures. However, following the incident in the APMC secretary’s office, NMMC suddenly disconnected our water supply. This caused a lot of problems for us, our personnel and farmers and drivers coming to the market . We hence approached Nahata with a written request to intervene.”
He added, “He has helped us big time by getting the water supply resumed. He conveyed to the commissioner that we are ready to give an undertaking. Narendra Patil too led a morcha to the civic body today.”
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