Fashion St stalls shut as licences are cancelled

Stalls on Fashion Street near Churchgate, a prominent shopping hub, are shut due to cancellation of licences. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has cancelled the licenses of the stalls for breach of various rules by the stall owners.

Out of 394 stalls at the Fashion Street, 51 stall owners have been issued notices while 43 stalls have been found under violation of law. The BMC stated that the major reason for the cancellation of license is the disturbance and inconvenience caused to the pedestrians.

The other reasons are extension of space by stall owners further from their 1x1 metre allotted stall area and, also, absence of licensed stall owners at the stalls.

Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of that area, said, “We have cancelled the licenses as the stalls are causing inconvenience to pedestrians. The stall owners even extend their space and often some other users are present at the stalls instead of the licensed stall owner.”

The shop owners have been served the notices for violating three norms like the person in whose name the license has been issued is never at the spot, the bamboo scaffolding and iron rods put up by the vendors restrict pedestrian movement on the pavements and the vendors sell commodities other than what they have been licensed for.

The matter is in Bombay High Court and will be heard on Friday.