Row over zunkha bhakar stall

Matters reached a head this morning when women of buildings 16, 17 and 18 prevented Shivaji Hulge, the stall owner, from breaking their compound wall. “Women and children use the area for their recreation. How could MHADA agree to give permission for construction inside the compound?” asked a resident.

Residents also allege that MHADA collects an exorbitant maintenance fee of Rs 409 for self-contained apartments of a built-up area of 231 sq `feet.

“Our carpet area adds up to less than 180 sq feet. Considering that the land belongs to the society and that we have paid for the compound wall, how can MHADA allow our land to be used for the centre?” asked another resident.

However, MHADA officials assert that construction will not stop. “The land does not belong to the residents as the society is yet to be formed,” said an official. Vanrai is a MHADA Low Income Group colony.

Zunkha bhakar centres are being set up over the state as part of the ruling Sena-BJP alliance’s policy of providing cheap meals to the common man. While it has an avowedly social objective, the scheme has run into rough weather at the point of delivery. In most cases, stalls sell Chinese food, biryanis, idlis, and other snacks while giving zunkha bhakar, supposedly the stall’s raison d’etre, the go-by.

Residents fear that setting up of the stall could give outsiders unprohibited access to their buildings. “We anyway have had a large number of threats (Vanrai is located right across the Western Express Highway, opposite Nirlon company). Such a centre is bound to bring in strangers who will patronise the stall until late hours,” said another resident.

Hulge, who runs a Chinese food joint from a handcart, says he wants a permanent outlet. He has obtained clearance from MHADA, BMC and the BSES for the plot. “There are no cables linked to the main power supply centre in this substation, which is why the BSES has readily agreed to the NOC,” he explains.

“The residents are unaware that it is not their land, and the compound wall will soon be broken for road widening,” he added. He has also obtained recommendations from the Minister of state for Home, Gajanan Kirtikar, for setting up the stall. “The plot of land was filthy as garbage was dumped there.

Now that it has been cleaned up, residents suddenly want to claim it as theirs,” he charged.Residents deny this. “It was only filled with grass and shrubs. Nobody dirtied it,” said one of them. They counter allege that six trees have been chopped down by Hulge to make way for the stall. The residents also sought the intervention of local Sena corporator Sunil Prabhu.

They warned him that he stood to lose votes if he did not stop the stall. He promptly issued a letter to MHADA. The residents then approached MHADA officials who said it would take at least a week for a decision, since chief officer, M B Appalwar is out for training. Till then, however, they will be unable to stall construction.That does not address the real issue: Do residents have the right to decide what kind of a neighbourhood they want to live in? "Let him restart the construction,” said a resident. “We shall fight to the finish”.