Litter bins in front of Juhu church anger locals

Members of the Christian community staying around the Juhu-Koliwada area in the western suburbs are miffed at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities, who, they claim, have hurt their religious sentiments.

According to locals, the civic body, as part of the Clean Mumbai campaign, has recently installed a few litter bins in the area, but two of them installed right in front of the Holy Cross Church board has angered the community members.

Larson Fernandes, a Juhu resident, said that he had immediately brought the matter to the notice of the K-west ward authorities and the local political leaders of the area, but they are yet to remove those bins. "The board displays important

information that the church has to give out to its members, including the mass timings. This has hurt the sentiments of our community. How can the BMC do this?" asked Fernandes.

Fernandes added that fearing legal action from the civic body, he did not dare to remove it. "Our community members are planning to take out a big protest rally to the K-west ward office on Saturday, if the bins are not removed by then," he said. Parag Masurkar, the new assistant municipal commissioner of K-west ward, said, "I will look into the issue immediately and sort it out."

Local BJP MLA Ameet Satam told dna that he was aware of the matter. "I will pursue it and get it resolved at the earliest," he said.