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.