The BMC has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the October 2017 Bombay High Court order, wherein a bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice M S Sonak had directed the civic body to remove the fire engine
The fire engine that was stationed inside Priyadarshini Park in June last year and removed following an HC order in October. File pic
The battle for a fire engine inside Priyadarshini Park (PDP), Nepean Sea Road, is hotting up. The BMC has filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the October 2017 Bombay High Court order, wherein a bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice M S Sonak had directed the civic body to remove the fire engine and the temporary shed constructed inside the park.
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The case is coming up for hearing in the SC on January 8, Monday. Susie Shah of the Malabar Hill Citizens' Forum (MHCF) said, "Senior advocate Shyam Diwan and Arif Doctor are appearing on MHCF's behalf."
Shah explained that MHCF's stand has always been that a fire engine and, subsequently, a fire station "will destroy a park that has taken 30 years to build". "We have maintained consistently that a fire station is needed in the area but there are other sites. Why the PDP specifically?" she questioned.
"A little over a month ago, a delegation of SoBo citizens, headed by Milind Deora, had met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who specifically said he had a place near the Kamala Nehru Park in mind for a fire station. When the CM himself says this, and other places are available, why target a patch of green, which is equally necessary in a city like ours?"
Deora seemed surprised when informed that the case was coming up in the SC. "We did meet the CM two months ago. He said he would see to it that this matter was settled. This is basically government-sponsored encroachment as the fire engine belongs to the government," he said.
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