Bandra Fair Stall Closure Row: Vendors Allege Premature Police Action At Mount Mary Steps, Cops Deny Charges

· Free Press Journal

Mumbai: A dispute has erupted over the closure of stalls at and around the Mount Mary Steps during the annual Bandra Fair, with community groups and vendors alleging that the shops were shut “prematurely and arbitrarily” and that police action was discriminatory. The Bandra police, however, denied the allegations, saying the stalls were required to close at 10pm as per the prescribed rules.

Watchdog Foundation Raises Concerns Over Police Action

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In a complaint to the police, Watchdog Foundation trustees Nicholas Almeida and Godfrey Pimenta alleged that police powers were being exercised arbitrarily, with stallholders being compelled to close substantially before what they claimed were traditionally permitted timings. They said the move caused inconvenience to devotees, pilgrims, visitors, local residents and stallholders.

Irin Polly, a stall owner, said stalls were asked to shut down as early as 9pm on Sunday and Monday, the first two days of the eight-day fair. “Last year we could keep the stalls open till 11.00pm,” said Polly.

Pimenta said there had been no such police action in the past. “Visitors come to the fair after work and these are temporary stalls, with a limited number of days,” said Pimenta.

According to Pimenta, police can shut down such establishments after 10pm only if the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, are violated. “There is no question of noise pollution in this case. If the police are shutting down the stalls for some other reason, such as security, they should communicate it to the public in writing,” said Pimenta.

The stall owners have sought immediate clarification from the police on the officially sanctioned closing time for stalls and establishments at the Mount Mary Steps during the Bandra Fair.

Police Cite 10pm Closure Rule For Fair Stalls

Responding to the allegations, an official from Bandra police station said the stalls were not forced to close before the permitted timing. “This has been the case every year. Stalls shut down at 10.00pm. It was raining and there were very few visitors. The stall owners were closing their stalls earlier on their own,” the police official said.

The Bandra Fair developed over centuries around devotion to Our Lady of the Mount. The history published by the Basilica records the existence of an oratory at the Mount as early as 1570, when the Jesuits brought a wooden statue of Our Lady from Portugal and installed it at the shrine. The present Basilica was completed in 1904 and has since become one of Mumbai’s important religious landmarks.

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The Basilica records that the approximately 136 Mount Mary Steps traditionally become lined with stalls on both sides during the annual fair following the nine-day religious services at the church.

The Watchdog Foundation said that if there was a specific police order, licence condition, traffic restriction, security assessment or law-and-order direction requiring an earlier closure, it should be formally disclosed and communicated to stallholders and the public rather than being imposed informally or selectively.

The organisation said the alleged premature closure disrupted a longstanding religious and cultural tradition and caused financial loss and hardship to stallholders who had obtained permissions and invested substantial amounts in their stalls. It has demanded an inquiry into the circumstances in which the alleged premature closure was ordered.

Video grabs of police instructing vendors to shut down stalls on Sunday.

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