On Friday, two upscale restrobars in Kamala Mills, Mumbai were ravaged by a fire which resulted in the death of 14 persons. As a result of the tragedy, the Shiv Sena led Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, decided to buckle up and order the safety audit of pubs and restaurants in the city. The civic body also started to demolish illegal structures in six parts of the city.
An illegal demolition drive also started in the Kamala mills area but the BMC officials soon came under the scanner for their unusual demolition choices:
BMC’s demolition drive against illegal structures in #KamalaMills area of #Mumbai, a fire that broke out here late Thursday night, claimed 14 lives. pic.twitter.com/w71mc27yP8
— ANI (@ANI) December 30, 2017
During any demolition drive, the structures usually demolished are illegal building constructions, hazardous electric wiring among others. But these BMC demolishes in Kamala Mills decided that, potted plants too came under the purview of an illegal construction and ruthlessly decided to demolish them:
Out of all the illegal structures, BMC starts its demolition with ‘Plants’ #kamalamillsfire#KamalaMillspic.twitter.com/lp7FtPveLx
— Mohammed Futurewala (@MFuturewala) December 30, 2017
People as a result weren’t happy with the BMC and decided to react:
Picture indicative of how childish and knee-jerk the reactions of our authorities are https://t.co/ozwqyz65PJ
— दिव्या (@divya_16_) December 30, 2017
In response to South Delhi ban on display of non-veg food outside eateries, Mumbai bans display of veg food pic.twitter.com/ZtMj0mO77f
— Ripper (@Ace_Of_Pace) December 30, 2017
There is no application there. The order is to demolish so destroy everything in the way. The policies are never focussed on safety, sustainable growth, cleanliness and conservation. Don’t know why it is difficult to make such simple decisions.
— Ashwini (@ashb309) December 30, 2017
Why is BMC attacking potted plants? Hafta for the serious illegal structures has reached? https://t.co/s0oUqd7nR9
— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) December 30, 2017
Seems like random vandalism. https://t.co/5ZAqbRAKkc
— Barbarian Indian (@barbarindian) December 30, 2017
But they only seem to be destroying really big flower pots, which they could’ve just carried away in BMC trucks! And installed them on some public roundabouts/ gardens?
Token action. Too late. And senseless.
Why don’t they seal businesses & suspend licenses of all encroachers?! https://t.co/xJt0CPON7d
— Rakesh Sharma (@rakeshfilm) December 30, 2017
It wasn’t clear as to why the BMC officials couldn’t simply relocate these plants to a safe area, in a day an age when green spaces are fast disappearing from Mumbai. It also raises the question as to what laws were the plants violating by being present there, and whether they would come under the purview of ‘license raj’ in the future.
