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Market Force ( An article by Shalini Singh in Tehelka,com)


A sting operation has been presented to us publicly,” says RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi on the ongoing controversy surrounding Mumbai’s famous Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Market, better known as Crawford Market. What’s bugging him? The 138- year-old market is a landmark heritage structure located in south Mumbai, where every day, amongst the muck and chaos, traders run a brisk wholesale business of fruit, vegetables and other household items. But things will now change. A redevelopment plan has been passed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in a flash, despite protests from the corporators of the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress, to give the market a major facelift.

The plan — passed without a tender — entails selling the BMC-owned portion of the market to one RNA Builders. Under the plan, the area occupied by the licencees, about 6,200 square metres, will be re-allotted, though the BMC claims that the heritage section of 5,500 square metres won’t be touched. A high-rise mall with a built-up area of 65,000 square metres will be constructed. Congress MP Milind Deora is aghast at the move and has protested in a letter to the corporators.

“How can the public’s property be given away without taking the land value into account?” asks Gandhi, one of the first to protest against this brazen sell-out of the market that runs up a daily business of Rs 11 crore. Besides the money factor, there are two more pertinent issues bothering many. First, the market lies within 500 metres of the buffer zone of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus that was conferred World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004. As per the guidelines, no high-rise is allowed within the site. So how will the mall come up?

The second issue is traffic. How will the already crowded market accommodate the additional shops in the high-rise that will bring more footfalls and vehicles? Gandhi believes that an arrangement has been worked out between the developers and licencees. Lauding the redevelopment move, Ashok Kokane, leader of the market’s Phal Vikreta Vyapari Utsav Mandal, says: “Foreign MNCs and companies like Reliance have started chains of air-conditioned supermarkets, where people will prefer to go. We will lose our livelihood if we continue like this.” What about the traffic problem that’ll ensue? “Underground parkings will be built. There will be no problem,” says Abdul Malik, another Mandal member.

But local residents have launched a tirade against the move, citing a threat to heritage. Allowing a high-rise to come up within the heritage area means losing the world heritage status.

Says historian Sharada Dwivedi: “The market represents our past. Besides, more viable solutions can be worked out.” Narayan Verma, former president of the Bombay Chartered Accountants Society says the BMC has no right to pass a plan like this where citizens are concerned. “How could they allow no discussion on the plan at the meeting? There has to be a tender process.” A few months back, a group of concerned citizens sought the opinion of various corporators. Gandhi says that 85 out of 93 corporators, as well as Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and Congress leader Rajan Singh, agreed that the plan shouldn’t be passed. “Mayor Shubha Raul said she’d talk to party leaders about pulling back the plan. But later they all buckled under pressure,” says Gandhi, adding: “What is this pressure all about?”

It is not that everything is lost. The BMC can still solve the problem by simply spending Rs 15 crore to rebuild and spruce up the market space, and can even float a tender to offset the cost. But obviously there are other plans. “The plan should be as per policy. The only thing driving this move is corruption at the government level,” says Gandhi. As of now, the BMC has not reacted.

Tehelka:: Free. Fair. Fearless