The merry-go-round spun in circles, and children giggled and screamed on the giant wheel as the organisers of the Chandivli Mahotsav continued operations even on Friday.
While the ongoing illegal Chandivli Mahotsav, being held at the Matoshree Meenatai Thackeray Garden, is clearly the result of adamant and irresponsible organisers, mid-day found that another major reason for the lack of strict action was a communication gap between two authorities—the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Sakinaka police station.
Although the BMC had officially informed the police station through a letter that the funfair was being held without the corporation’s permission, PI Yogesh Shinde told mid-day that the letter never reached them. “Today (Friday), after we got free from PM Narendra Modi’s bandobast duties, when I reached the office and checked for the letter, we realised that no such letter had been received by my office. So, we called up the BMC ward officer and informed them,” said Shinde.
It was later learned that the letter had not reached the police station because the corporation did not send it directly through its officials, but chose to post it instead. “We followed the regular procedure, and since the funfair was still going on, we asked our officials to visit the police station on Friday and ensure that the organisers vacate the garden,” said BMC L Ward Assistant Commissioner Dhanaji Herlekar.
Even after the BMC called up the organisers and warned them to vacate the garden, the funfair functioned in full swing. The food, jewellery stalls, along with other play activities, also continued to entertain the visitors.
“No one told us to stop the activities or dismantle anything. Why would we continue if the organisers asked us to vacate? We don’t know anything about the permissions. Our contractor asked us to set up our activities, so we did. Now we’ll remove everything when he tells us to. We don’t know anything beyond that,” said Bansi Mohanlal, who operates the giant wheel.
When questioned, organiser Prashant Maurya said, “You printed whatever you wanted to print. You did your job. Now we will do ours as well. We can see that people are enjoying all the activities. We will vacate it by tonight. Let the people enjoy today.”
Angry residents speak
The residents of the area are now demanding that an FIR be registered against these irresponsible organisers. “These people think that since they belong to the ruling party, no rules apply to them. They think they are beyond the authorities, police, and regulations. The police patrol every evening and night. Why did they not take any action despite knowing that the law is being blatantly disrespected? What are the authorities waiting for? Where were the BMC officials when the activities were still operational on Friday, despite warnings? Don’t the organisers have any responsibility and shame?” questioned Mandeep Singh Makkar, founder of the Chandivli Citizens Welfare Association.
Authorities react
“We have informed the BMC officials that we will take necessary actions as soon as they approach us. It is our duty to ensure that law and order are followed in the city. However, everything has a procedure. This primarily falls under the purview of the corporation, and we can interfere and take matters into our hands only when official communication reaches us,” said Shinde.
Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad in post on X demanded that an FIR against the organisers should be registered.
