Illegal hawkers in subway leaves no space for citizens

Overview

D ward is often described by civic officials as a 'Mini Mumbai', as it has all the quintessential features of the city — from affluent and elite areas to places populated by the higher-middle class, middle class, lower-middle class and lower income groups. The official residence of the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister along with other ministers, as well as the beautiful Raj Bhavan —the Governor's residence, fall in the ward. The fact that there is constant VVIP movement in the area, has led to civic amenities being upgraded time and again —be it new roads, open spaces and gardens, waste management or beautification.

This ward has a beautiful coastline of the Arabian Sea, the natural water body Banganga, a hilly area with dense green cover, slums, commercial and industrial areas, and even the city's red light area.

However, there is a clear divide in this ward between its eastern and western parts. While the western side of D ward comprises largely upmarket residential areas like Walkeshwar, Malabar Hill, Teen Batti, Peddar Road, Kemps Corner, Carmichael Road and Breach Candy, the resident population in the eastern side of the ward is a mix of the higher middle class, middle class, lower middle class and lower income group. Though the ward has only 20 per cent of slums, they are in small pockets and are spread across the Banganga, Tulsiwadi and Simla Nagar areas.

Political scenario

Political space of D ward was predominantly shared by Congress and BJP until 2007 civic elections when both the parties had three corporators each and Shiv Sena was left with only one corporator. Equations changed in the 2012 civic elections when the Congress and the BJP both had to lose one seat each and the Shiv Sena emerged with highest number with three corporators. Until 2014, the MP of the area was Milind Deora from Congress. But in the 2014 Parliamentary elections, Arvind Sawant from Shiv Sena won the seat, strengthening the party's position. If Shiv Sena and BJP fight as alliance partners in this civic elections, Congress may face a tough challenge not just to increase its strength, but to retain its seats as well.

issues

Old and dilapidated cessed and non-cessed buildings
Need of good roads in the eastern side of D ward
Bottleneck at Tardeo needs immediate attention from authorities to come up with some solution to ease traffic congestion
Dearth of parking facility in the area forcing residents to park on road
Though the ward is declared free of open defecation, the slums and old chawls where one family has more than five members need community toilets.
'U' turn from the SoBo Central Mall creates huge pressure on Tardeo Road. Footpaths need urgent attention, subway from Haji Ali Juice corner to Heera Panna Shopping Centre is in a mess. Illegal hawkers, vagrants have encroached the subway leaving no space for the citizens to use.

Residents speak

Major issue for the Peddar Road residents is that both the BMC and the Traffic Department are not helpful to us and are not willing to accept our long pending pleas. Several societies do not have ample parking facility. BMC has not done adequate provision keeping futuristic vision. Illegal parking of buses and vehicles on Bodyguard lane between Tardeo RTO and Willingdon Club is another major nuisance blocking the entire road, which could have been otherwise used for the mobility.
—Umesh Solanki, resident of Peddar Road

Tardeo and Mumbai Central area is plagued by hawkers. Ward office struggles to address this problem on daily basis. There is no playground in our area. It is not that there are no plots reserved for playground, but those existing are encroached. Most required in the ward is more number of toilets near Mumbai Central station considering major station having outstation train terminus.
—Niranjan Shetty, resident of Tardeo and BJP leader