Still on the ramp-age!
The Bandra Fair may have ended, but the authorities must still take a decision on Shah Rukh Khan’s ramp, says the activist who vows to see it demolished. Parag Jain reportsThe Bandra Fair may have ended but activist and Watchdog Foundation trustee Nicholas Almeida’s threats to demolish the ramp next to superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s bungalow, Mannat, have not. Khan constructed the ramp in 2006 to park his vanity van.
The public road on which the ramp was built is called the Cement Road, provides one access to the shrine on the Mount, the focus of the Fair.The Bandra Fair is 300 years old. According to Almeida, so is the road!.“Long ago, devotees from all over Maharashtra used to come in boats, parked them in front of ‘Mannat’ and used this road to reach the Mount Mary Church. But for the last three years, the road is being closed during the Bandra Fair. Last year when I came to know about this, I went along with devotees and forcibly opened the road”, Almeida said.In 2013, Almeida wrote a letter to the Bombay Municipal Corporation, stating that the ramp is illegal and it has to be demolished. But no action was taken.
“This year on August 15, 300 people came along with me came for a peaceful protest and prayed for Shah Rukh”, Almeida added.This pious declaration, however, was at odds with the strident criticism contained in banners put up as part of the protest. One of the two protest banners read, ‘Father forgive him for he does not know what he has done. Shah Rukh Khan maybe a hero, but for Mother Mary’s devotees, he is big zero’. On the other banner, it was written ‘On Independence Day, we demand freedom from illegal construction’.Under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, a notification was issued in 1991 for regulation of activities in the coastal areas. As per the notification, the coastal land up to 500 meters from the High Tide Line (HTL) and 100 meters along banks of creeks, estuaries, backwater, and rivers subject to tidal fluctuations is called the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ). The notification imposed a restriction on construction activities in the CRZ.
“The ramp and Khan’s house, which he bought from the Bai Khorshed Bhanu Sanjana Trust in 2001 on the lease, fall under CRZ-II category”, Almeida said.“A series of emails and complaints were written to the chief minister, who, along with the municipal commissioner and the mayor, agreed to demolish the ramp. Till today the ramp is there. Finally, I had to file a criminal case in Bandra court on September 12 this year saying that Shah Rukh, the municipal commissioner and the other officers have to be punished as per the law. I also filed an FIR in Bandra police station that Shah Rukh has done an unauthorized construction as per CRZ law and that he is punishable under the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act (MRTP)”, Almeida added.The plaintiff says that the road does not belong to the “egoist” Khan. “Shah Rukh should come forward and say that I will demolish the ramp. If he does so, I will withdraw all the cases against him and if he doesn’t, I will teach him a lesson in the court”, said an angry Almeida.
He also said that local politicians are not uttering a single word against Khan, in spite of knowing that the ramp is illegal. Almeida says he will be filing a case against them for encouraging illegal construction.There does not seem to be any particular unease over the protests in Khan’s home, however. At the closed gate, we spoke to an individual sitting in the guard’s cabin and accessible only through a hatch. “Shah Rukh sir is not even worried about all this because people do not have any problem. It’s just that some guys start shouting every year around this time (Bandra Fair). This Cement Road was in a very bad condition earlier. People used it as a public toilet and also couples used to sit here. It was maintained by Shah Rukh sir. A proper road was built and plants were grown on both sides of the road,” he said.
This year on the first day of the Fair, there was a police presence at the entrance of the Cement Road and the general public was not allowed to go to the Mount from there. “That had nothing to do with the ramp. It was the decision of the police for some reason”, the staff person commented.
