FPJ Impact: Finally, BMC cracks down on illegal furniture bazaar

The Free Press Journal's campaign against the illegal furniture bazaar which encroached upon the arterial Maulana Shaukat Ali Road, Nagpada has bore fruits. The civic officials on Thursday swooped down on the furniture-sellers and carted away their wares. On Jan 4, the FPJ had highlighted how the massive encroachment not only resulted in traffic jams but also blocked access to the local municipal eye hospital.

𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗶-𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗣𝗝 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴

The action comes after the FPJ prodded the civic officials and police department to look into the issue as just one lane of the road was left for vehicles, while the rest were occupied by chairs, tables, wardrobes, etc. Consequently, E-ward officials took the anti-encroachment drive. “The real challenge is to ensure that they (encroachers) don't return,” said local corporator of the Congress Javed Juneja.

𝗜𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘇𝗮𝗮𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗻𝘀

For several years, the illegal bazaar has been a major nuisance to local citizens. A resident, who did not wish to be identified fearing retaliation from the furniture sellers' lobby, said “These furniture walas block a significant portion of the road by scattering their wares. The flow of vehicular traffic is majorly impacted. The problem is that the civic officials and traffic cops appear to be taken care of by these businessmen and that is why there is no action.”

Mr Juneja said he had repeatedly complained to the ward office and the Joint Commissioner of Traffic without much success. He said repeated action must be taken against the illegal furniture walas. He underlined that even school buses and ambulances have difficulty in navigating this major road.

𝗙𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 '𝗵𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗮' 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀

One of the furniture sellers candidly admitted that they give 'haftas' (bribes) when the civic officials and police come for eviction, and they go back without taking any action. Another said, “The anti-encroachment drive is a temporary provision these authorities take to show that they are doing some work. They give us warnings, confiscate our wares and leave. Sometimes we bribe them and they don't harass us for a few days and even return the confiscated goods.”

Denying the bribery allegation, Deepak Bhandare, Senior Inspector for Licensing in the E-Ward, claimed that his department was taking “concrete action” against the encroachers.

He assured that the anti-encroachment drive started on Thursday will be continued. Local traffic police inspector Mubarak Shaikh maintained that it was the not job of the traffic police to remove furniture from roads.