PMC’s Mandai demolition drive leaves vendors broken; threaten indefinite hunger strike

PUNE It was a a shock for Mahesh Jadhav and his family, when they came to know that their stall at Mandai, had been broken down in the anti-encroachment action taken by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Saturday

PUNE It was a a shock for Mahesh Jadhav and his family, when they came to know that their stall at Mandai, had been broken down in the anti-encroachment action taken by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Saturday.

Vendors collect goods and remains on Sunday, after the PMC demolished shops at the Mahatma Phule Mandai on Saturday. (KALPESH NUKTE)

“I got a call from one of my friends early in the morning that JCB machines and huge police bandobast is there. All the stalls are being removed. We immediately rushed to the spot, but nothing was left. They even didn’t gave us time to remove our goods and material from the shop. Now my wife, son and other family members are taking away what is left in the broken stall,” said Jadhav, a fruit vendor at Mahatma Phule Mandai.

On Saturday morning, the PMC, along with the police razed at least 100 stalls/shops to make way for a Metro underground station.

Somnath Kanchi, president of the Mahatma Phule Mandai fruit vendors’ association, said, “The action taken by PMC on Saturday was very ruthless and will have an impact on thousands of people who were owners of grocery and fruit shops, and their workers. We had a meeting with the PMC officials on May 27 in which we suggested some changes to be done while shifting us to a new place. At that time they agreed and suddenly on Saturday, JCB machines with police came early in the morning and started breaking down our shops. We do not oppose the Metro project, but this is not right. We are now going to take up this issue in the court and within couple of days we are going to start an indefinite hunger strike for our demands.”

Vendor Mahesh Jadhav and his family collecting the remains after their fruit stall in Mandai was demolished by the PMC. (KALPESH NUKTE/HT)

There are 105 small and big shops in this area and some have been open for 100 years.

Grocery shop owner Jignesh Shah, whose shop was also taken down, said, “Our entire shop is down and within one day we are out of business. This was started 100 years ago by my grandfather. They should have given us prior notice, so we could have removed our goods safely. Families of hundreds of workers who are working in this market are also going to suffer now. The alternative space for our shops is very small and congested. There is hardly any space to walk, park vehicles, so it is inconvenient for the public as well.”

Rajendra Bhagwan Dimbar, a senior citizen and one of the oldest fruit vendors in this market said, “As the mango season is going on, we had a lot of stock and pulp bottles. Yesterday, when the PMC JCB machines were breaking down the shops, they did it so mercilessly that we were not able to take our fruits and goods out. There is loss of around ₹3 lakh. None of the politicians and political parties came to help us.”

In Saturday’s PMC anti-encroachment drive, structures spread over 5,000 square feet were cleared. Mandai market is one of the main metro stations between the underground stretch from Agriculture college to Swargate, part of the 16-kilometre Pimpri-Chinchwad to Swargate corridor. The Mandai metro underground station has been pending due to land acquisition.

Madhav Jagtap, head of PMC’s anti-encroachment department said, “We had subsequent meetings with the grocery shop and fruit vendors from this area and it was a long pending issue to relocate them. As the Metro work was getting delayed the action was taken on Saturday and it still will continue till the debris is removed from the spot. They have been given an alternative space to do their business in a nearby area.”