Crowd-funded beat chowkie that locals say brought down crime, receives demolition notice on day of inauguration
Locals claimed they needed a police chowkie as it helped resolve petty disputes and kept criminals in check. Pics/Atul Kamble
Hours before the Dharavi beat chowkie that local residents had contributed to and painstakingly rebuilt was inaugurated on Friday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued a notice saying it must be razed. Union minister Ramdas Athawale inaugurated it after top police officers refused to do so, as the BMC had termed it illegal.
After the old chowkie was demolished by the BMC as it was 'dilapidated', the NGO Dharavi Nagrik Seva Samiti (DNSS), consisting of local residents, came together to reconstruct it in January 2019. They did it because their repeated requests to the BMC to rebuild it were ignored. Locals had claimed they needed a police chowkie as cop presence there helped resolve petty disputes between residents and also warded off criminals.
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Union Minister Ramdas Athawale inside the police chowkie. Pic/Atul Kamble
Residents contributed
The Dhobi Ghat beat chowkie was constructed with the contribution of 70 residents in terms of money and construction material. The total expenditure was approximately R3.50 lakh. DNSS had planned the inauguration of the chowkie on February 6, but it was cancelled when BMC communicated to police officials, that they shouldn't participate in the event in which an 'illegal structure' was involved. On Friday, the BMC issued a notice to the DNSS. Locals claim that while the BMC has termed the structure illegal, it had also said there was no place for a chowkie in the area as per the development plan.
'Demolish chowkie'
DNSS was in talks with BMC officials and Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Athawale, to inaugurate the chowkie. "We had written to the BMC providing it details of evidence (photos etc from 1995) that we had regarding the chowkie. But we received no response from them. On the morning of March 1, eight hours before the inauguration, the BMC served a notice to the DNSS to demolish the structure. The notice says, the evidence which DNSS provided, has failed to prove that the chowkie has an official record. Therefore, either the DNSS should raze the structure, or the BMC will demolish it as soon as possible," said Siddharth Medhe, president of DNSS.
'Leave this chowkie alone'
It seems the future of the chowkie is a big question before the Dharavi residents. "The police have assured us that they will deploy officers once the chowkie is inaugurated. But we don't know what will happen next. We are requesting BMC officials to spare this chowkie as it is very helpful for residents' security," said a local resident.
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