Bandra ALM multitasks

ALM Mount Mary/Kane Road or the 33rd ALM to be formed since the institution of this body in 1998 by the BMC, is a conglomerate of 42 high-rise apartments, bungalows, religious institutions, a school, an orphanage, a hospice and a hostel for women. With such a varied neighbourhood, it has been a challenge for the ALM to create a clean, green and healthy ambience. One of the major issues during the early years was keeping away intruders who hawked, cooked, littered and even stated the municipal garden as their permanent address on their ration cards. The road was in shambles. Since it is a path to a heritage church, the ALM committee was persuaded to work for change.

In 2004, when the hawking and non-hawking zones of the city were drawn up, we witnessed change. A stay order through the ALM’s effort helped vacate a hawking kiosk, after which the BMC ensured evicting all the unauthorised hawkers, and the road was paved. Around the same time, the permission for adoption of the Municipal Garden came through. It was developed through sponsors and named ‘Sukoon’. Simultaneously, the fringes on the road were beautified with flower beds.

The issue of solid waste management was then taken up through training sessions on waste segregation conducted for housewives and maids of societies. However, since the BMC was not serious about the implementation of its own segregation programme, people returned to their old habits. Our newsletter named The Source, emails and popular social media such as Facebook, WhatsApp, helps us in disseminating information. Meetings are conducted every third Sunday of the month and brainstorming sessions with the team are planned to bring people together through social events—Women’s Day, Children’s Day, national days, Senior's Day and Valentine's Day—and garner their support and help so as to strengthen the ALM.

One of the pressing problems is the over-crowding of parked vehicles on the road. This makes it difficult for the sweepers to clean the road. There needs to be a system of checks and balances. Today, the icing on the cake is our effort to turn the Mt. Mary/ Kane Road into a 'Zero Garbage' zone. Eight societies have already started composting their waste. With support from the BMC, we hope to achieve our goal of 'Zero Garbage' in six months. ‘We Can, We Will, We Must’ is our motto.