Yazdani Bakery in Bombay’s Fort area is one of several bakeries and bhattis (small bake houses) in the city to have received notices from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) for using wood as fuel. This was stated as part of the MPCB defence when it was questioned in the Bombay High Court (BHC) on why it had conducted only 1,000 or so environmental audits over eight months when there are over 7,000 polluting industries in the city, reported The Times of India (ToI) on January 10, 2025.
Iconic Yazdani Bakery in the Fort area
The notice sent by MPCB to Yazdani Bakery and others asked why they were using wood without permission and why they should not be closed down for causing pollution. Bakeries throughout the metropolis had been asked to switch over to cleaner fuel within a year, the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) told the BHC via its counsel Milind Sathe. Bombay is full of bhattis and these pav (bread) makers are among the three top polluters, the BHC was told.
"No! We are not closing down,” third generation partner of Yazdani Bakery, Perzon Zend, told The Sunday Indian Express (SIE) on January 19. He remarked, "Across the world, people are preserving these bakeries and celebrating them as artisans, but we aren’t.” In addition to the uncertainty generated by the recent show cause notice, there have been whispers that Yazdani would close following the passing of Perzon’s father, Zend Zend and his younger brother Parvez in 2021. The family’s absence has been noticeable at the bakery where long-time employees are virtually running the show.
Sharing his vision of the bakery’s future, Perzon stated, "My niece, Zyraa Zend (daughter of Zyros of fortune cookies fame) has studied baking and is currently working at a restaurant in Goa… She will be the one to carry forward the Yazdani legacy under the mentorship of her father and master baker Zyros.” However, this assumption remains unconfirmed. S. V.