Wary of aggrieved voters, 8 of 10 corporators bunk forum

With just over a month left for the BMC election, one would imagine aspiring corporators frantically reaching out to voters and addressing their grievances.

However, eight councillors from the F-North ward preferred to stay away from facing questions on bad roads, water issues and poor health facilities during the third round of DNA’s ‘My Locality, My Voice’ at Matunga’s Ramnarain Ruia college on Sunday.

Residents attending the forum said the absence of the eight councillors reflected their apathy towards people. Getting their votes in the February 16 election will not be easy if this is the attitude, was the overwhelming feeling in residents of the ward.

Two sitting Congress corporators — Upendra Doshi (ward no 168) and Presila Kadam (172) —along with representatives of the BJP, MNS and the newly formed Loksatta Party faced questions on the menace of hawkers, unclean drainage system, etc., from disgruntled residents.

“We have been complaining about issues such as the encroachment near Wadala railway station for a long time. With hawkers lined up on footpaths, it is difficult for commuters to enter and exit the station. No concrete action has been taken to solve the problem to date,” said Wadala resident Vasudev Shenoy. He alleged that local councillor Hemant Doke (ward no 173) has stopped responding despite repeated complaints by locals.

Congress corporator Doshi stopped short of admitting that he could not fulfil all promises and said that some work is yet to be completed.

“I did not complete all the work undertaken in my ward, but whatever I could do I have done. People must keep that in mind. Whatever work I could do was possible because of co-operation from locals, officials and my activists,” Doshi said.

His colleague Kadam blamed the ruling Shiv Sena-BJP combine for creating hindrances for making proper healthcare facilities available in the ward, but said issues like water supply and unclean drainage system were dealt with in an efficient manner. Manisha Kayande, vice-president of the Mumbai unit of the BJP, pointed a finger at the Congress-NCP government in the state and said it was encroaching upon the powers of the BMC. She asked voters to show faith in the BJP while MNS’s zonal head Anand Prabhu said those ruling the BMC lacked ‘sense of governance’.

Ruben Mascarenhas of the Loksatta Party batted for clean politics and favoured implementation of the Nagar Raj Bill. “Ninety per cent of our problems are related to the BMC. We want to engage ourselves in clean and citizen-oriented politics. So give us a chance,” he said to a round applause. If the forum was any indication, the battle for the BMC will be hard-fought one.