Now, Bangladeshis camp on JJ hospital land in Mumbai; set up shoe factory

A significant chunk of the 47-acre land belonging to the prestigious Sir JJ hospital has turned into a hub of illegal footwear and apparel manufacturing units.

Run mostly by migrants, some suspected to be from Bangladesh, these units sell goods on a wholesale basis not just to the city’s leading showrooms at Linking Road in Bandra, Crawford Market and Dongri, but also to other parts of the country like Delhi and Hyderabad.

Over a dozen small scale industrial units occupy nearly 20% of the hospital compound, according to the authorities.

“All the stalls are illegal. Slumlords have also taken over a portion of the premises right behind the official quarters of our employees,’’ confirmed Dr TP Lahane, dean, JJ Hospital.
There are about 199 illegal hutments and the residents of 77 have got ration cards, said Lahane, who had conducted a survey after taking charge.

“They use our electricity, water and toilets illegally, which is unacceptable,’’ he added. Lahane has been pursuing the matter with the anti-encroachment squad of the municipal corporation rigorously, but to no avail.

Alam, one of the unit owners, debunks the hospital’s claim. “This place belongs to the public works department (PWD) and we pay rent on a regular basis,” he said. Sources reveal that most of these slumdwellers are North Indians but the illegal migrant population is sizeable.

“We have known for long that quite a few slumdwellers hail from Bangladesh, but no action has been taken against them,” senior hospital officials said on the condition of anonymity.

The units, meanwhile, flourish unconcerned about the hospital’s concern. “This sandal of mine is a craze among the youngsters at Linking Road in Bandra. I have manufactured several such sandals and sold them to the shopkeepers there. I supply a pair for just Rs150, but they sell it for more than Rs750,” said Alam.

Alam’s unit is the smallest in the encroached compound. Another unit in the neighbourhood has more than five to six machines working at a time. The hutment also has a mezzanine floor, where the finished product is stored. The owner of this unit revealed that he supplied footwear to leading showrooms in the city.

But it is not just footwear; apparel units too have been doing roaring business. DNA found several small garment units on the encroached land.

Each slum has a set-up of at least 12 sewing machines and the same number of workers operating them.

A Mallik, president of An Indian Minorities Seva who lives close to the JJ Hospital and had been hearing about these illegal units for a long time, said, “The manufacturing units are not as small as they look. The goods have huge demand in the cloth markets of Dongri and Crawford Market.”

Lahane is not impressed though. He wants the encroachment vacated as soon as possible. “There is no question of PWD land within the JJ Hospital compound. Since I took charge, I have been chasing the anti-encroachment squad. I have even submitted my survey report to them, but they are yet to react.”

He said the slums were to be removed soon after the monsoon.

They still stand.