SHABANA AZMI COMES TO THE RESCUE OF DHOBIS
THE ASIAN AGE (JAN 2004)
By Skimmy Gupta
Actress and MP Shabana Azmi finally had to intervene on Saturday, 27th December in 'Dhobi-Ghat' case at Juhu after local police failed to take any action. A local hooligan, Bastyav Creado and his accomplices have allegedly been successful in grabbing major land worth crores of rupees (measuring approx. 5500 sq.mts) of 100-year-old Dhobi Ghaat at Gangadhar P.Chaudhary Marg -Juhu.Due to timely intervention of local residents and Shabana Azmi;only a small stretch of open land is left form being encroached. Till date, police has taken no action against the encroachers.
Prakash Chaudhary, social worker and local resident narrated the whole incident to The Asian age.He said "The entire stretch of land to Amrutlal trust from over 100 years. Moreover, the land has been sanctioned as an open land for Dhobi Ghaat by Maharashtra Government. But Bastyap and others started capturing the land illegally with muscle power. A person of Amrutlal family was also beaten up by them few years ago and has not shown up due to fear. Basically, their modus operandi
seems to occupy entire land, build one-storey huts and rent or even sell them for lakhs of rupees without any paperwork."
Shabana told The Asian Age 'The dhobi families have been staying for more than 40 years living their livelihood. A local hooligan has illegally grabbed and occupied almost the entire land of these dhobis and sold it to slum dwellers. Now only a small plot of land is remaining and he has his eye on it. He is now threatening them to pay him for this piece of land or he will sell it also. It's a sheer surprise that in front of police, the entire dhobi ghat has been sold to slum
dwellers and police has hardly prevented this activity."
Sources reveal Bastyav has a criminal background with many cases registered against him in police stations. He resides at Gaothan 2,Juhu whereas other accomplices reside in the encroached area."Buddhilal Choudhary, a 40-year-old is third generation dhobi residing in the area .On the behalf of 27 families suffering from the hands of local hooligans-Bastyav, Mariyappa, Alam, Magan,Kambli, Mansoor and others; Buddhilal complained with Juhu Police Station on 22 nd December.As he said, "Since past 4 years; the encroachers have grabbed almost 90% of the land .All our washing and drying open areas for clothes have been converted into huts which has badly affected our business. They also regularly harass our families by extorting extra rent and threatening them for life and money. "
Around 25 people approached Shabana on 27th December with the issue wherein she lodged a fresh complaint on her MP letterhead with Juhu Police Station." Now, they have assured us of some action against the land grabber. The local hooligan is a threat to huge colony of dhobi ghaat.As he was also allegedly involved in occupying some land of Juhu Beach which was to be developed for senior citizens and children. He also obtained a stay order for the same. But we managed to demolish the structure. I have also spoken to DCP Bipin Kumar and so lets see what happens."adds
Shabana.
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By Skimmy Gupta
Actress and MP Shabana Azmi finally had to intervene on Saturday, 27th December in 'Dhobi-Ghat' case at Juhu after local police failed to take any action. A local hooligan, Bastyav Creado and his accomplices have allegedly been successful in grabbing major land worth crores of rupees (measuring approx. 5500 sq.mts) of 100-year-old Dhobi Ghaat at Gangadhar P.Chaudhary Marg -Juhu.Due to timely intervention of local residents and Shabana Azmi;only a small stretch of open land is left form being encroached. Till date, police has taken no action against the encroachers.
Prakash Chaudhary, social worker and local resident narrated the whole incident to The Asian age.He said "The entire stretch of land to Amrutlal trust from over 100 years. Moreover, the land has been sanctioned as an open land for Dhobi Ghaat by Maharashtra Government. But Bastyap and others started capturing the land illegally with muscle power. A person of Amrutlal family was also beaten up by them few years ago and has not shown up due to fear. Basically, their modus operandi
seems to occupy entire land, build one-storey huts and rent or even sell them for lakhs of rupees without any paperwork."
Shabana told The Asian Age 'The dhobi families have been staying for more than 40 years living their livelihood. A local hooligan has illegally grabbed and occupied almost the entire land of these dhobis and sold it to slum dwellers. Now only a small plot of land is remaining and he has his eye on it. He is now threatening them to pay him for this piece of land or he will sell it also. It's a sheer surprise that in front of police, the entire dhobi ghat has been sold to slum
dwellers and police has hardly prevented this activity."
Sources reveal Bastyav has a criminal background with many cases registered against him in police stations. He resides at Gaothan 2,Juhu whereas other accomplices reside in the encroached area."Buddhilal Choudhary, a 40-year-old is third generation dhobi residing in the area .On the behalf of 27 families suffering from the hands of local hooligans-Bastyav, Mariyappa, Alam, Magan,Kambli, Mansoor and others; Buddhilal complained with Juhu Police Station on 22 nd December.As he said, "Since past 4 years; the encroachers have grabbed almost 90% of the land .All our washing and drying open areas for clothes have been converted into huts which has badly affected our business. They also regularly harass our families by extorting extra rent and threatening them for life and money. "
Around 25 people approached Shabana on 27th December with the issue wherein she lodged a fresh complaint on her MP letterhead with Juhu Police Station." Now, they have assured us of some action against the land grabber. The local hooligan is a threat to huge colony of dhobi ghaat.As he was also allegedly involved in occupying some land of Juhu Beach which was to be developed for senior citizens and children. He also obtained a stay order for the same. But we managed to demolish the structure. I have also spoken to DCP Bipin Kumar and so lets see what happens."adds
Shabana.
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Labels: Entertainment
posted by Skimmy @ June 04, 2008
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