Mumbai: Borivli’s very own illegal Chowpatty

mid-day visited the bustling ‘Borivali Chowpatty’ on Tuesday night

A food plaza under the banner of ‘Borivali Chowpatty' popped up in Shimpoli right under the authorities' nose over a month ago, and has already shot up the popularity charts. It was only after an activist's complaint that the BMC ordered action against the encroachers, who opened the stalls that are spread over 882 sq metres of the Collector's land.

Reji Abraham, the activist who complained to the BMC last week, said the encroachers have opened pav bhaji, pani puri, ice gola, pizza, burger, Chinese and other Mumbai-famous street food stalls on the plot, on the lines of Juhu and Girgaon Chowpatty.

Around 12 huge food stalls have been opened under the name of ‘Borivali Chowpatty' on Collector's land at RM Bhattad Road at Borivli West. Abraham said all the stalls are owned by one person, but no one knows who, and the sellers at the stalls are just workers.

He added that local political heavyweights are suspected to be behind this brazen encroachment.

Nidhi Chaudhari, collector, Mumbai Suburban district

mid-day paid a visit to the Chowpatty on Tuesday night and found a huge crowd and traffic jam on roads in the vicinity. Just in about 45 days, this place went viral on social media as well.

Speaking to mid-day, Assistant Municipal Commissioner Bhagyashri Kapse of R Central ward said, "We have received the complaint, and Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani has also informed us to take necessary action against these illegal eateries.

The food plaza has become quite popular among the locals

Borivli Chowpatty is located on the Collector's land and the temporary stalls were opened without any official permission. We will take necessary action."

First came a plant nursery

Abraham, who is the president of United Association for Social Educational and Public Welfare Trust, said, "Earlier, some encroachers ran a plant nursery here. Suddenly, over a month back, 10-12 street food shops, like the ones at Juhu Chowpatty cropped up on this land. It's beach-themed.

The Collector's land is being misused by the land grabbers for commercial uses. I even wrote a letter to the BMC and the Collector asking them to take necessary action against the encroachers."

"The revenue department, as custodian of the public land, must act more responsibly in larger public interest. The BMC, as the planning authority, has a lot to answer for such rampant acts of complicity and must, without fail, be held responsible for overlooking the interests of citizens at large to aid land mafia for pecuniary benefits. Police Commissioner, Sanjay Pandey, with many visible public-oriented initiatives, can hopefully come up with directions to act against such land-grab crimes aided by corrupt enforcing authorities," Abraham added.

Collector speak

Mumbai Suburban District Collector Nidhi Chaudhari told mid-day, "I will inform the deputy collector's Encroachment Department to examine and remove the structures of the illegal eatery shops if they are running without any permission. The BMC is the planning authority, as they have all the rights, especially for food stalls. Unfortunately, the deputy's encroachment store doesn't report to me and they come under the housing department, which comes under the revenue department.

This department has the task to protect the government land, which means to protect collector land as well. We have started a new process wherein we erect boundary walls after removing encroachers from the Collector's land. We are also starting several new projects with the BMC and the government authorities to protect the Collector's land."

"If it's a collector land, we are informing the collector to take necessary action against the encroachers, and also we are informing the police commissioner to register a criminal case against the land grabbers," Kakani said.

12
Approx no. of stalls at Borivali Chowpatty