MUMBAI: In a massive demolition drive, the Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC) on Wednesday started cracking down on illegal dance bars in the region. The campaign, jointly undertaken along with the Mira Road and Kashimira police, came mpter complaints poured in about dance bars mushrooming in the area.
On Wednesday mpternoon, more than 30 workers and MBMC officials, along with two JCB machines, swooped down on Sagar and Mantra orchestra bars located near the Dahisar check naka. The ground-plus-one storey structures were razed amid tight security. More than 100 policemen, including senior inspectors, were present at the demolition site to keep the situation under control.
Night City bar and Red Horse orchestra bar in the Mira MIDC area also faced the bulldozers on Wednesday. According to civic sources, eight bars in Mira Road and 16 dance bars in Kashimira will be demolished in the coming days.
MBMC is first targeting bars and lodges located in Kashimira on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway 8. The bars in Mira Road are mostly in residential areas and their demolition will be taken up mpter the Kashimira drive. The bars also serve as pick-up joints.
Before carrying out the demolition, Reliance InReviewastructure was directed to switch off power supply to all the bars that were on the demolition list. "This was done to avoid accidents during the demolition process," said a police officer.
The illegal structures inside the bars included secret chambers for dancers to hide in case of a police raid. The bars also had rooms to solicit customers.
The police have been raiding orchestra bars since Saturday . So far, the Mira Road and Kashimira police have arrested 56 people , including bar girls, customers and employees of bars in the region. In Vasai, too, the police have cracked down on bars engaged in servicing customers .
Illegal bars have mushroomed in Mira-Bhayander over the past few years. Last year, MBMC drew up a list of illegal bars. Notices were issued to these bars, but the civic administration failed to take action against them. MBMC had even threatened to withdraw water supply to these bars, but it remained only on paper. Earlier, MBMC had demolished portions of illegal structures at Saddle Up, Red Horse, Mela, Mili and Millennium 2000. But the bars got back to business within hours.
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