The Railway Protection Force on Monday fined some of them for parking their bicycles outside Grant Road station, stating that "hawkers" were not allowed outside station premises
Dabbawalas have written to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal seeking resolution of the issues they face at suburban stations after the Railway Protection Force (RPF) on Monday fined some of them for parking their bicycles outside Grant Road station, stating that "hawkers" were not allowed outside station premises.
After a stampede on Elphinstone Road foot overbridge killed 22 people on September 29, the authorities have been driving hawkers out of railway station premises across the city.
According to the Mumbai Dabbawala Association, they have been treated as hawkers by the RPF at various stations, such as Kandivali, Borivali and Bhayandar, for the past few months.
On Monday, the RPF confiscated eight cycles belonging to dabbawalas that were parked outside Grant Road station and asked them to cough up a fine.
Subhash Talekar, spokesperson for Mumbai Dabbawala Association, said, "We have shot off a letter to the railway minister regarding the issue. Cycle is an important means of transport for us. We should not be called hawkers just because we have to park our cycles near railway stations. We keep our cycles there just for some minutes while exchanging tiffin boxes. The authorities should keep this in mind before slapping a fine on us and terming us hawkers. We request the officials to exempt us from these charges."
Earlier, three cycles from Borivali and four from Bhayandar railway station were confiscated; they belonged to dabbawalas.
Talekar said this happened a few weeks ago and they had to pay a fine "but on Tuesday the court said we should be let go without being charged a fine."
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