​

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials shut the eatery operating from the rear of a mobile toilet for women in Fort on Thursday night, hours after mid-day began looking into why the shop was functioning in the absence of approvals, permissions, or licences.

This reporter last spoke to MLA Rahul Narwekar, as his name had cropped up in the matter, around 6.12 pm on Thursday, and civic officials took action less than two hours later. The following day, the eatery was closed, and staff could be seen vacating the premises with perishable raw material.

An official seizes equipment from the eatery on Thursday. Pic/By Special Arrangement; (right) The side door through which staff could be seen vacating the premises with cooking implements and perishable ingredients on Friday. Pic/Sarthak Mehta

A BMC spokesperson said on Friday that officials from the civic body’s A ward had acted against the cafe on Thursday night and provided geo-tagged photos showing kitchen equipment being seized.

The café’s manager, Geeta Mehar, who claims she works in the office of local corporator Makarand Narwekar, said, “We have closed the shop following directions of Makarand sir and staff of the NGO [that runs the toilet facility].” Several attempts were made by this reporter to contact the corporator, but he did not respond by press time.

8PM
Approx time eatery was closed on Thursday

mid-day’s investigation

mid-day’s Friday report highlighted claims made by cafe manager Geeta Mehar, where she stated that she did not possess any licence or documents necessary for her business, but produced a reference letter from MLA Rahul Narwekar and stated that the required documents were in Makarand Narwekar’s office. The legislator, in a statement to mid-day, refuted her claims.

Shopkeepers hail action

Small business owners in the vicinity of the toilet appreciated the action against the eatery. “This café’s operators were notorious as they claimed to be associated with the powerful Narwekar family. We struggle to get permissions and operate in constant fear, while these guys had been functioning fearlessly for over a year,” said a shopkeeper on the condition of anonymity.

NGO speaks

Ulka Sadalkar, chief operations officer of Madhumalati Foundation, said, “Our NGO operates and maintains that mobile bus and many more like it with help from the BMC and CSR funds. Geeta was allotted the spot under our women’s empowerment initiative, where she was approved to sell only packaged food and drinks. We had strictly conveyed no cooking is allowed there as it’s a fire hazard. She must have been running this venture behind our backs. Earlier in the year, we told her to stop the packaged food business as well.”