Aarey milk stalls in Mumbai are being used for other purposes, allege residents

Though residents across the city have been complaining to the civic body about 1,811 Aarey Sarita, Aarey dairy and other milk stalls being used for other purposes

Though residents across the city have been complaining to the civic body about 1,811 Aarey Sarita, Aarey dairy and other milk stalls being used for other purposes since 2013, there has been no action in the matter so far. Recently, some of the stalls in K/West ward (consisting of Andheri-West and Oshiwara), have been converted into residences and a chemist shop. “While authorities fail to act, people are illegally occupying the stalls,” said Hina Shroff, director, My Residents Association, an NGO.

One Aarey stall has been converted into a sandwich shop. (HT File)

“An Aarey stall near DN Nagar police station is being used as a residence at night by someone. Some people around my house are also using these stalls for cooking purposes,” said Shroff.

Shroff has approached ward authorities, asking them to take action against such stalls, but her attempts have fallen on deaf ears.

Aftab Siddique, chairperson, Khar Advanced Locality Management, who had raised the issue with authorities in 2014, said“Since there is no proper agreement between the diary commissioner and municipal commissioner, there are no rules for these stalls. Three years ago, we had asked them to monitor stalls by checking their licenses and name, but till today no one has acted on it,”

According to a 2015 notification the assistant commissioners of each ward are to remove stalls which do not have a license under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act. According to Siddique, only 12 stalls across the city have a license under section 313 of the MMC Act.