Mumbai News: Gurudwara At Andheri's Lokhandwala Demolished After Legal Notice To BMC Commissioner

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Joggers Park in Lokhandwala Complex, Andheri West, is finally encroachment-free as the illegal religious structure (gurudwara) has been demolished. The action came after the Lokhandwala Joggers Park Association sent a legal notice to the BMC Commissioner for ‘wilful and deliberate non-compliance’ of the Bombay High Court order passed on May 2 to demolish the unauthorised religious structure at the Joggers Park. The notice was given on June 6, following which, at midnight on June 8, the structure was demolished.

The HC had granted BMC two weeks to act against the unauthorised structure. The Sanjha Chulha Guru Ka Langar Trust, which had built the gurudwara, immediately approached the Supreme Court, but failed to get any relief.

“The remaining structure of the illegal gurudwara has been demolished by the trust itself. The Joggers Park land, which is originally a DP road, is now fully under the possession of the BMC,” said an officer from K-West ward.

Meanwhile, the gurudwara has been shifted to a nearby building.

The demolition is a success for the citizens’ fight to stop unauthorized activities on public land. As per the petitioners, during the Covid-19 pandemic, a security cabin inside the park was unlawfully converted into a religious structure with a kitchen and storeroom, and the food distribution gradually evolved into a permanent langar and gurudwara. The petitioners also raised concerns about food waste being dumped in nearby mangroves and disturbances from loudspeakers.

Anuj Mittal, a resident of Lokhandwala Complex who also represented the petitioners, said, “A langar was started outside the park during the Covid-19 lockdown. Gradually, the trust made a structure inside the park and eventually even organised a wedding reception. A toilet was also built inside the Joggers Park, for which no permission document, either from BMC or MHADA, was produced to us.”

“The HC had given two weeks to the BMC to demolish the structure in its order on May 2. Despite the SC refusing to grant relief to the trust, the BMC did not ensure that the gurudwara was demolished. Thus, a notice was sent to the BMC Commissioner on June 6 that a contempt petition would be filed on June 9. The BMC immediately acted and the structure was demolished,” Mittal said.