We will not allow Bhendi Bazaar to be a 'Boharis hub'

MUMBAI: Priya Rathod, an independent candidate, from the Mumbadevi constituency on Saturday turned the guns on the seating Congress MLA, Amin Patel, accusing him of making Bhendi Bazaar into Bohri Bazaar.

“For the last five years, Amin Patel has only put his efforts to turn the Bhendi Bazaar into Bohri Bazaar by helping Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT). He has done any development work, but full-fledged supporting the SBUT to encroach the residential and commercial areas in order to pave for the redevelopment work,” said Priya Rathod while addressing a corner meeting at Nagpada.

The SBUT, a Dawoodi Bohra organisation, is rebuilding 16.5 acres of rectangular area of the bustling Bhendi Bazaar. The project embodies the redevelopment of old and rundown houses in Bhendi Bazaar which stretches from the JJ flyover junction at Byculla to Minara Masjid on the south, is to be completed in phases by 2020. The revamp is one of the two clusters under the state’s 2008 policy aimed at a holistic development of city’s old congested localities.

She further said that Bhendi Bazaar has always been a strong-hold of the Sunni community with a population of around 85 per cent. “Amin Patel and SBUT are spearheading to make Bhendi Bazaar a new hub for the Bohri community and we will not allow this to happen.

Priya Rathod, who is also a social activist, has moved Supreme Court with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) demanding a thorough Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the city’s biggest redevelopment project by SBUT in Bhendi Bazaar. In her petition, she has alleged that the underworld is playing a key role by threatening the residents as well as shopkeepers to vacate their place. “The SBUT has hired underworld to forcefully vacate both the residential and commercial establishments to pave way for the redevelopment work,” claimed Priya Rathod.

It may be recalled earlier this year the Bombay High Court had dismissed her petition on the grounds of lack of evidence to back the allegation. “This time, we are prepared and that, we have strong evidences in this matter, including the names of some former ministers from the Prithviraj Chavan government as well as few seating legislators,” Priya Rathod informed.

A resident of Bhendi Bazaar, Priya Rathod, claimed that the whole Bhendi Bazaar project is nothing but an eye-wash as there is no clear road map. “The cost projections, the total sum of capital involved, source of funding, the final price of flats when they will be sold, the promises made to existing tenants, the prices paid for purchasing the same, the sizes of flats which will be given in compensation to those who will be dislocated, where and how they will be re-located, etc, all these important facts are being deliberately kept vague,” she pointed out.