R-Central WARD (Borivli East and West)
Traffic is another perennial problem that the residents of this area have to face day in and day out
Overview
R-Central ward covers Borivli East and West, and includes Gorai, Govind Nagar, Daulat Nagar, Bansi Nagar, Datta Pada, Rajendra Nagar, Borivli TPS, Aksar Yoginagar, Chikuwadi and Charkop areas. While R-Central ward spans a large geographical area of 55 sq km, it comprises of 10 electoral wards.
The ward largely has residential areas, with many old housing colonies, where majority of the residents belong to the middle-income group. Over the last few years, there has been an increase in construction of residential buildings, making Borivli one of the most densely populated areas in the city. It is also an important junction in the city as most of the express trains halt at Borivli station, which is one of the busiest railway stations in the western suburbs. It witnesses 3 lakh travellers on a daily basis. Residents have complained that the roads outside the station are not well kept and narrow, and the problem is compounded by hawkers. A large number of auto rickshaws wait for commuters outside the station and leave little space for pedestrians. The R-Central ward is also home to Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Activists in Borivli have opposed the central government's proposed freight corridor passing through the park. The development of Mumbai's Metro line 2 in the ward will improve connectivity to other parts of the city.
Political scenario
There are 10 electoral wards in R-Central, and it has remained the same after delimitation. BJP is dominant in R-Central ward, with five corporators of a total ten. MNS and NCP have two corporators each, and the ward also has a corporator from Congress. Shiv Sena does not have any corporator in this ward, with two of its corporators defeated in the last civic elections in 2012.
At present, the MP from R-Central is Gopal Shetty from BJP. There are three MLAs in this ward namely, Vinod Tawde and Manisha Chowdhary, both from BJP, and Prakash Surve from Shiv Sena.
issues
Part of the Ganpat Patil Nagar slum falls in this ward. Instead of demolishing the illegal huts, the slums in the area are increasing. The civic authorities do not take efforts to curb slum encroachment, activists say.
The contractors dump waste in parts of Shimpoli and burn the garbage which pollutes the area. The interior roads in Borivli are narrow and always affect traffic movement. The roads are also not well maintained. The civic body carries out frequent work related to sewer lines, water lines etc but it is never completed on time.
Hawkers and auto rickshaws choke the roads outside Borivli railway station. The BMC office and police station are present just opposite the station, yet no action is taken against these illegal hawkers and auto rickshaws which are parked in huge numbers.
Residents speak
The roads connecting to Borivli are wide but the interior roads are narrow. The old colonies in Borivli barely allows any scope for expansion of roads. However, with the rising population, and the development of Metro, the number of commuters will only rise further. The roads therefore need to be widened. The roads outside the station are encroached by hawkers causing a lot of inconvenience.Even if hawkers outside the station are asked to leave, there will be enough space for the public to walk.
—Harish Pandey,
Secretary, New link Road Residents Association
There is a slum coming up in Chikuwadi. We have written letters and appealed to the BMC to stop the encroachment on time, but they don't pay attention. The open spaces are not maintained. The ward is getting polluted day by day. The contractors just dump the waste in Shimpoli and burn it on a regular basis. It is a residential area and not a dumping ground.
—Nitin Chhajed,
Activist and resident of Borivli
The official word
R-Central ward Assistant Municipal Commissioner Kishore Gandhi says, "At present, the major challenge for the ward is hawkers but with the present policy in place, the problem will be reduced drastically. After the hawking policy was introduced, areas are categorised as hawking and no-hawking zones. There are a few water issues in Gorai, Charkop and Kajupada but with the new water tunnel the problem is solved. Slums comprise 20 per cent of the ward's area and some of it falls under the SRA. However, some SRA projects are stuck due to certain land issues between the government and private companies. The roads are wide enough and we do not face water logging issues here."
DELIMITATION: After delimitation there
is no change in the number of electoral wards
in R-Central ward
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