A walk down from Marine Drive to Flora Fountain will take you across a few of the iconic locations in Mumbai - Brabourne Stadium, K Rustom’s Ice Cream and Azad Maidan, to name a few. Over the years we’ve lost many of these landmark spots, and earlier today, hearts broke yet again across the city when the news came of another impending loss. Gaylord - the bakery whose aroma has been attracting kids, parents and grandparents alike since 1956 has been ordered to shut down within two weeks.
On Wednesday, the Bombay High Court directed the management of the iconic South Bombay restaurant Gaylord to demolish their cake shop housed right outside the restaurant, the open- air seating along the shop and the outside enclosure.
According to the report by Hindustan Times, the order was passed following a BMC directive that Gaylord’s cake shop, along with its outside modifications, were ‘illegal’ and a safety hazard that would obstruct the path of fire trucks for the entire building.
However, a bench comprising of two judges has permitted Gaylord’s management to apply to the BMC again to regularise or reinstall a regularise or reinstall a temporary or retractable awning, or to make other modifications to the open space within the restaurant compound. The bench has given the civic body four weeks to consider the restaurant management’s application.
The argument made by the management held that all due payments and licensing was up to date and that the structure has remained for the last 61 years since the inception of the establishment - why is there a problem now?
The Civic officials told Hindustan Times that even if the restaurant had “rightly or wrongly been granted permission for such structures in the past, the restaurant, in its current form, violated the BMC’s compulsory open space rules.”
It’s a sad day, to say the least, as we prepare to bid adieu to yet another icon of Mumbai’s cultural history, following Rhythm House, Merwani & Co. and the Parle G Factory - you will all be missed.
Click here to read the complete report by Hindustan Times
Feature image via Cityseeker