Mumbai dabbawalas get a place of their own

Mumbai: After dragging along for a quite long period of time, Mumbai's dabbawalas finally will now have a place of their own in the name of Dabbawala Bhavan.

Since 1890, Dressed in white outfit and traditional Gandhi cap, Mumbai army of 5,000 dabbawalas are fulfilling the hunger of almost 200,000 Mumbaikars with home-cooked food that is lug between home and office daily. For more than a century, the team has been part of this grime-ridden metropolis-of-dreams.

After having promised to do so in the run-up to the 2017 elections for Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC), the ruling party in the state, Shiv Sena has now handed over a letter to the office bearers of dabbawalas earmarking a land in Bandra where the building will come up. The

Dabbawala Bhavan was first proposed and promised in the run-up to the 2017 BMC election by the Shiv Sena, in its manifesto, however, it was kept aside citing non-availability of land. The BMC has now allotted 286.27 sq metre land at Shirley area in Bandra for the building. Talking to Bizz Buzz, Nitin Sawant, secretary, Dabbawalas' Association, says: "We are very much happy to see realiasation of our long-nursing dream of having a building for us which is likely to come up within a couple of months' time from now and the BMC will be spending Rs1 crore for the same." The building is 20-minute walk from Bandra station. The proposal was first moved by Shiv Sena corporator and now Mayor Kishori Pednekar in March 2019. Pednekar's notice of the motion to set up a Dabbawala Bhavan in Mumbai was approved in a general body meeting by then Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar.

"Dabbawalas have a special attachment with the financial capital. They have garnered praise and earned recognition globally for management in delivering lunch boxes without any glitches. Taking note of their contribution in Mumbai, there should be a dedicated Dabbawala Bhavan on the lines of 'Varkari Bhavan.' The Bhavan will serve as resting place for their family members visiting Mumbai for treatment or other purposes," Pednekar had stated in the proposal she moved in the BMC's general body.

In his budget speech, 2021-22, Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal sanctioned Rs1 crore for setting up the Dabbawala Bhavan in central Mumbai. However, later the civic body said that currently, no land is available with the Estate Department and also the Development Plan (DP) 2034 does not have any reservation marked for 'Dabbawala Bhavan'. Replying to Pednekar's proposal earlier, the civic administration has said that currently there is no land available for 'Dabbawala Bhavan' and the proposal will be considered after the civic body finds land and then the reservation will be made.

However, BMC finally zeroed in on the land. On Thursday, Mayor Pednekar along with BMC Standing Committee chairman Yashwant Jadhav and BMC officials handed over the letter to the office bearers of Dabbawala Bhavan.