BMC will speak only Marathi in Western suburbs

Non-Marathi speaking residents of the western parts of Bandra, Khar and Santa Cruz will have to take a crash course in the language if they want to correspond with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Its ward office in the area, H West, has decided to use Marathi, the civic body’s official language, in most of its correspondence with residents, after unrelenting pressure from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

“We receive letters from residents in English and Hindi, apart from Marathi, complaining about various civic amenities. Usually, we reply to the letters in the language in which they are written. But now, we have decided to reply only in Marathi,” a BMC official said.

The ward officer, Manik Khirsagar, said, “I cannot confirm whether we will use only Marathi in our correspondence, but we have certainly decided to use Marathi most of the time in our functioning.”

MNS’ zonal chief in Bandra, Tushar Aphale, admitted that the party had pressurised the ward officer to take the step. “If Marathi is the official language of the state, why can’t the BMC use it in its official correspondence? We will welcome it if the BMC follows through with its decision, but if not, it will have to face the heat from us,” he said.

Aphale said that the party’s next demand will be on acquisition of wells in the area. “In view of the water shortage, the collector should acquire all the wells in the city and provide water to residents free of charge. At present, they have to buy water from the tanker lobby, which is an expensive affair,” he said.

In 2008, the MNS had forced shop owners in the city to compulsorily put up Marathi sign boards.