The management of the Sabarmati Riverfront project, who went to evict an amputee girl’s tea stall, faced public humiliation after a video recording of the girl went viral on social media.
The girl, identified as Neha Bhatt, can be seen in the video crying and accusing civic officials of corruption and harassing a disabled woman to make a living.
“You could have politely asked me to leave this premise stating that the Chief Minister is going to be on a visit. I would have left but instead the authorities are harassing a handicap woman like me. They asked to pick me up and put me in the van, am I some waste that needs to be put in the van?” the girl can be heard saying in the video.
Further, she accused the civic authorities of taking money from the vendors who put up their stalls at the Riverfront. “Other vendors were informed in advance about the eviction drive as they paid money to the authorities,” she said in the video.
Later, Bhatt attempted to meet the Chief Minister at the Gandhinagar Sachivalaya but was denied entry due to her short dress. She petitioned the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) to allow her tea stall to continue until she could find a replacement. Bhatt has already promised the local administration that she will not set up her stall in the area.
Neha Bhatt, a tea connoisseur, was a teacher at a prestigious school in Gandhinagar’s GIFT City. She met with an accident in November 2021 while travelling from Ahmedabad to Mahuva in Saurashtra on a GSRTC bus. The bus was hit by a truck, injuring Bhatt, who was sitting in the first row.
The only passenger to get critically injured, her left leg had to be amputated. She did a crowdfunding campaign of Rs 10 lakh for her treatment of prosthetic leg.