BMC demolishes 170 illegal shops, extensions on Bandra's Link Road

Newly appointed assistant municipal commissioner Sharad Ughade began his crackdown on illegal shops at Bandra's Linking Road on Wednesday. The BMC demolished over 170 illegal extensions along the busy shopping street.

Most stalls had taken over the entire footpath leaving no space for pedestrians. "The action was started on Monday and will continue further. The illegal stalls have been removed completely along with illegal portions of those stalls that had BMC licenses," said Ughade.

The action was carried out jointly by the BMC's H-West, H-East, K-East wards and Removal of Encroachment (RE) department. Apart from Linking Road, which is infamous for illegal hawkers, stalls were also removed from Khar's 32nd, 33rd and 35th road.

"We had received complaints from citizens. So, we decided to examine the licenses. We found that most shops had been extended illegally. The encroachments were so huge that people were forced to walk on the streets," said an official.

Ughade is known for cleaning up Dadar's Ranade Road. He was earlier posted at the high-profile G-North ward which houses Shivaji Park and the crowded Dadar station.

Residents have welcomed the move but said the BMC action must be frequent. "It is good that the new ward officer is taking action. The extensions will soon be back and it will be the same old story again. The action should also be taken in other hawker prone areas like Hill Road," said local Congress corporator Asif Zakaria.

"We seized 11 gas cylinders, eight iron stalls and one handcart. The action will also help smoothen the traffic flow since many hawkers had come onto the road," the official added. Traffic police face problems during weekends and festivals, when the area witnesses at least 25,000 visitors on a daily basis.