Twitter
Advertisement

Battle for BMC: Slum dwellers deprived of even basic facilities

F-North Ward (Wadala, Sion-Koliwada and Matunga) While one part of the ward is developed, slum areas still cope with problems of drinking water and sanitation

Latest News
article-main
Poor collection of garbage is another issue that the slum areas in the ward face
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Overview

The F-North ward can largely be divided in two parts. First — wide roads, clean neighbourhoods and a number of gardens. Second — slums, heaps of garbage and lack of basic infrastructure. Around 60 per cent of the area is occupied by slums, where open defecation and poor collection of garbage are common problems.

Open defecation in the slum area is still prevalent. Some of the important areas of the ward are Matunga, Sion, Wadala, Pratiksha Nagar and Antop Hill. Garbage dumped along the road, encroachment by hawkers and the pathetic condition of community toilets attract negative attention. Tonnes of garbage along the roads lead to a major sanitation problem. Residents living in these slums are deprived of basic facilities like drinking water and regular garbage collection.

Since these slum pockets do not have sewer lines, civic body needs to construct septic tank for community toilets. Illegal parking adds to traffic congestion. Even the civic body accepts that parking along both sides of the road is a major issue. Pedestrians have a tough time walking on the footpath as hawkers have encroached the space. Roads near Monorail pillars in Wadala and Pratiksha Nagar are in pathetic condition.The other part of the ward has Five Gardens, Indian Gymkahana and around 800-metre-long joggers park under the flyover on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road in Matunga. This part of the ward has wide roads, large number of trees and adequate footpath space for pedestrians.

POLITICAL SCENARIO

In F-North ward, Shiv Sena has a stronger presence than other parties. At present, of the 10 electoral wards, four have Sena corporators while three others are represented by the BJP. Two corporators are from the Congress and one is an independent candidate.

The number of electoral wards has remained the same in the ward after delimitation. However, the delimitation process has altered the borders of the electoral wards. Shiv Sena has a slight edge in this ward as a Shiv Sena MP represents the South Central Mumbai parliamentary consituency. BJP MLA Tamil R Selvan represents Sion-Koliwada while Congress MLA Kalidas Kolambkar represents Wadala.

Part of F-South ward now falls under the F-North ward. Since the Shiv Sena already has a hold in F-South ward, the new boundaries will further benefit the party. Former mayor Shradha Jadhav also represents this ward.

issues

Several stretches in the ward witness a traffic menace because of illegally parked vehicles. During night, the actual condition of roads is visible due to illegal parking on both sides of the roads.

As 60 per cent of the area comprises of slums, open defecation, poor lifting of garbage and pathetic condition of community toilets are common. Condition of roads along the Monorail pillars are substandard. In addition, road side hawkers encroache the roads. Due to all these problems, traffic congestion along the Monorail road is common.

Rash driving, especially by college students from nearby localities, have become an issue.

Residents allege that repeated change in footpath paver blocks every six months is unnecessary and is a wastage of public money.

Residents speak

Poor lifting of garbage is the biggest problem that residents of the ward especially in Antop Hill and Pratiksha Nagar face. In addition, condition of community toilets are pathetic and need immediate repair. Some of the toilets do not even get water on a daily basis.
—Marimuthu Raju, Resident of Antop Hill

Parking along roadside is a major issue which is the sole reason of traffic chaos. The civic body as well as the traffic department need to work on this issue. As redevelopment of old structures is on the cards, there will be an influx of people and problems will increase.
—Sachin Gupta, Resident of Matunga

The official word

Keshaw Ubale, Assistant Municipal Commissioner admits that road side parking is one of the major issues of the ward. However, he says, "the parking issue is limited to a few areas and the civic body keeps finding ways to tide over the problem. Traffic and parking issues are prevalent in developed areas. The slum areas face issues of cleanliness and open defecation. We have constructed over 146 community toilets in slums and ordered for mobile toilets. We arrange water tankers at community toilets where there is a problem of water connection. Antop Hill area does not come under the BMC thus there is limited scope to work for development. The civic body gives equal attention to slums and the developed area. Residents living either in slums or developed areas pay equal taxes, except for property tax. However, the civic body works in coordination to provide equal amount of facilities to the people living in slums as well as the developed places."

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement