Mumbai HC: Think about public before Celebrating fests on Roads

Irked by the authorities’ indifference towards the convenience of the common man, the Bombay high court yesterday rapped the civic body for allowing celebration of festivals, such as Ganeshotsav, on roads across the city. HT reports.

Irked by the authorities’ indifference towards the convenience of the common man, the Bombay high court on Monday rapped the civic body for allowing celebration of festivals, such as Ganeshotsav, on roads across the city.

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A division bench of justice SC Dharmadhikari and justice GS Patel said, “You erect pandals anywhere and start celebrating festivals and no one is bothered about the public.”

The court was hearing a petition filed by Raghuvir Madhyamik Vidyalaya, a Hindi-medium school in Kandivli (East), whose access road had been encroached upon by an unauthorised shrine.

The court had earlier directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to act against the unauthorised structure.

Raju Moray, the school’s lawyer, pointed out that the structure had taken away nearly half of the 14-ft wide access road. He submitted that the civic body had taken “half-hearted” action and demolished only the walls and the roof of the temple.

The judges were annoyed to learn that the BMC had not removed the idol and had also left the temple platform untouched. “It is unfortunate that a roadside photograph of any deity gets converted into a temple,” they said.

The bench has directed the Samata Nagar police to provide protection to the civic officials for the removal of the idol and demolition of the platform.