BMC's alleged takeover of Bandra Cemetery is refuted by the Bombay Catholic Sabha

Dolphy D'Souza, the head of the Bombay Catholic Sabha, referred to a tweet by local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Ashish Shelar as "misleading" regarding the withdrawal of a notice about the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) acquiring St. Peter's Sea Side Cemetery on Kadeshwari Road in Bandra. In response to Mr. Shelar's assertion, Mr. D'Souza stated that "as an advocate, he is meant to be well-versed in the law of the land."

 

How can an Assistant Municipal Commissioner of the H/West ward reverse what a Senior Officer, Joint Municipal Commissioner (zone III), has done? is the question posed in the rebuttal statement by D'Souza and Adv Godfrey Pimenta of the Watchdog Foundation? It also emphasises that withdrawal is just a way to put things on hold. The church was not served with the withdrawal notice that was delivered to a local politician who waved it at a meeting convened on Friday to protest the property purchase notice, according to Mr. D'Souza's press release. The fact that the notice was being retracted by a junior officer was underlined in The Free Press Journal's story.

 

"We wished to correct the false information being circulated. According to protocol, only specific officers are authorised to issue particular notices. What a senior does cannot be undone by a junior. As a result, the purported withdrawal notification signed by the assistant municipal commissioner is illegal, unauthorised, and in violation of the law. It wasn't until Saturday afternoon that St. Peter's Church received it," Mr. D'Souza stated. Fr. Frazer Mascarenhas, the Parish Priest of St. Peter's Church, acknowledged that, unlike the earlier notification, he had not been given the notice or seen it posted on the walls of the cemetery until Saturday evening.

People from the community claimed they wouldn't donate land.

 

"Since about 50% of D.P. Road has been completed, we also demand that the 18.3 metres (60 feet) of D.P. Road that is located next to both the Jewish and the Christian Cemeteries be fully developed. Given that the corporation owns PAP tenements, it is required to remove the hutments that still occupy the remaining 50% of 18.3 metres (60 feet) of D.P Road and to provide slum dwellers with rehabilitation services "the letter read. Ms. Shelar declined to offer a statement on this situation. "No comments! Community is something I support and always will! I would support their request and work hard to meet it! "He responded to a question from The Free Press Journal through SMS.

 

 

Image Courtesy: Twitter @of_shelar