Observing that it is "disgraceful" that Mumbai's roads have no space for walking, the High Court of Bombay on Friday slammed the BMC for making it a city for motorists, & not pedestrians.
"Instead of shifting toward pedestrianisation, you have gone on the opposite side & moved towards motorisation. Coastal roads, metros...What will happen to people who go on foot & on bicycles? Today, there is not one road in Mumbai that is walkable. It is actually disgraceful," said Justice Gautam Patel who led a division bench with Justice Gauri Godse.
The Judges heard a plea by shop owners Pankaj & Gopalkrishna Agarwal, who run a mobile phone gallery at Goyal Plaza in Borivli (east), regarding illegal hawkers on the footpath obstructing access to it. Although on the main road, their shop is not visible due to the stalls & permanent structures erected by them. Even if they are removed by the BMC, they promptly come back.
On Nov 11, noting that the petition raised a much larger issue of consequence to the entire city, the HC directed the BMC to inform about its policy for constructions, shops, installations or obstructions on side-walks, footpaths & pavements.
BMC counsel Sagar Patil sought time to file reply & informed that a high-level meeting is to be held on this issue. The judges, however, rapped the BMC for allowing hawkers everywhere without marking hawking zones. When Patil said hawkers have been removed, advocates Anand Mishra & Ashok Saraogi for the Agarwals said they are unsure because the hawkers will return.
The Judges said the BMC must make sure that the hawkers don't come back ever because each time they are removed, they come back & "this lovely industry will continue." "You (BMC) turned it into one. Sorry to disappoint your officers. We are disconnecting this source of funding," said Justice Patel. The judges added that if the hawkers return, they will hold the ward officer responsible.
In the order, the judges said that it is undisputed that these hawkers are unauthorised as the place is not a hawking zone & there is no hawking policy applicable to them.
They decided not to dispose of the plea & directed the HC registry to treat it as a suo motu PIL as "we intend to ensure that this kind of encroachment on public accessways & footpaths do not occur."
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