Mumbai: Numerous shop owners of Link Square Mall in Bandra West, including senior citizens, have come together demanding the immediate commencement of structural repairs. The members say they are even prepared to contribute their own money and undertake the structural repairs themselves if that is what it takes to reopen their businesses.The mall has remained shut since the devastating fire of April 29, 2025. Nearly 16 months later, shop owners say that while the insurance survey was conducted long ago, the insurance claim process is yet to reach a conclusion and structural repair work has not begun, leaving hundreds of families and workers without the businesses and incomes on which they depended.According to the shop owners, the fire originated from premises stated to be owned by Zears Developers Private Limited, the developer of Link Square Mall. Members alleged that Zeeshan Ziauddin Siddique and members of his family have held shares in the company.Siraj Qureshi (55), Shop No. 24, said the demand of the shop owners had remained unchanged from the beginning.“For the last 16 months, nearly 200 shop owners have been stranded. The repair process has still not started. Our only demand is that the pending insurance process be completed and repairs begin immediately so that we can reopen our shops and earn our livelihood again. We are ready to contribute towards the repairs. We just want our mall back.”Kamlesh Tikyani (66), Shop S-48, founder of Nick & Jess, said he had returned to India after spending 13 years abroad and built his garment business here, supplying men’s apparel to domestic and international markets.“Before the fire, our business was running smoothly. Since then, we have approached the managing committee, registrar, administrators, the courts and the insurance company, but nothing has moved. Our biggest concern today is getting the insurance claim concluded and getting the mall repaired so that we can return to our shops.”The shop owners further said that Fire Department’s report of May 2025 recorded that fire-safety equipment was not operational and that information regarding the fire was communicated to Fire Department after a substantial delay.Members say these findings have raised serious questions for them regarding fire-safety compliance, maintenance of fire-fighting equipment and responsibility for the premises from which the fire originated.Following the fire, several meetings were held between Zeeshan Siddique, MLC, and affected shop owners and members of Link Square Premises Co-operative Society, according to the members.However, nearly 16 months after the fire, the mall remains closed and structural repairs have still not commenced.Link Square was built by Zeeshan’s late father, Baba Siddique, in the year 2009, and till the time of the fire, the family played a crucial role in its management. Siddique, however, told TOI he has no role in the reopening of the mall. “This is absolutely baseless. A handful of shop owners with ulterior motives do not want the development of the mall for reasons known best to them. My family (not me) own a few shops in the mall like other shop owners do. We are suffering losses as well with the mall being shut and want the mall to be made. How am I any sort of authority in the mall? Why is my name being dragged into this without any context? There is an administrator appointed for the mall, even this was requested by the same group of people trying to malign my image now. Just because I’m a public figure, a few of them want to garner attention by using my name?”
