Take full blame if lives are lost at Fort fish market: Bombay HC tells BMC – Times of India

MUMBAI: Frowning at a wholesale fish market operating on the ground floor of a demolished building at Fort, the Bombay high court on Wednesday said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will have to take full responsibility if its ceiling collapses resulting in loss of lives.
“In such a case, the concerned officers of the municipal corporation as well as the mayor and the relevant corporator would expose themselves to civil and criminal liability,” said a bench led by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta.
It heard a PIL by Asghar Shaikh, a fish merchant, to direct BMC to temporarily shift the Chhatrapati Shivaji Market to Airoli check naka market.
The petition said in 2016 upper four floors were demolished but the fish market continued on the ground floor.
Shaikh’s advocates Rajiv Narula and M A Khan said despite structural audit reports to raze the building entirely, BMC wants to temporarily repair the remaining structure.
Senior advocate Anil Sakhare, for BMC, said the situation is not as bad as projected to warrant immediate removal of all fish traders/vendors. He said the fish market will be shifted to a new building in Crawford market after 18 months.
Sakhare said BMC plans to shift the traders in phases.
The judges noted that from the pictures it appears that the ground floor is in a “precarious condition.” Also, there is propping almost all over suggesting that people operating from such fish market could be at substantial risk if the ceiling caves in. BMC is directed to reply how it proposes to relocate the fish traders/vendors temporarily and also to assure HC there is no imminent risk.