Pali Hill locals protest master plan, hawking zones in the area

About 150 people came together at Pali Hill's Zig Zag road to protest against the draft development plan, as well as the civic body's proposal to allot 10 hawking pitches in Bandra's plush Pali Hill locality, on Sunday evening. Organised by Pali Hill Residents Association, celebrities and residents like actor Rishi Kapoor and designer Manish Malhotra attended the event.

BJP MLA Ashish Shelar assured residents that the master plan, according to which six roads will cut through the locality, will not be given the green signal in its present form. "There are numerous errors in the plan, and it will not be cleared like this," Shelar said.

Residents were dead set against the classification of Pali Hill as a residential-commercial in the draft plan. "Pali Hill never had hawkers. The BMC's proposal to introduce hawkers to the area, and other hawker-free localities is bizzare. I have spoken about the issue to the municipal commissioner," said Bandra corporator Asif Zakaria.

Environmentalist Sumaira Abdulali said that both the draft blueprint and the hawking zone demarcation was 'mindless', as it would severely affect the peaceful enclave. Abdulali called on others to lie down on the road for a few minutes, as a mark of protest.

Madhu Poplai, secretary of the association urged residents to individually file their objections against the plan, and also to send letters of objections to the local H west ward office.
Rishi Kapoor said: "We are not against hawkers. But the authorities should allocate hawkers zones in a planned manner."