Water supply still an issue for majority of SoBo’s slums

Overview

B ward comprises the areas between P D'Mello Rroad, IR Road, Abdul Rehman Street, RB Marg, MA Road, JMR Marg and Carnac Road (Lokmanya Tilak Marg).

Being a part of the old island city, the infrastructure in the ward is very old and needs to be addressed urgently. With century old and dilapidated buildings, illegal multi–storey load bearing structures, unruly bikers, congested lanes, and not to mention it's past history of underworld gangs and ganglords, the area is also popular for shopping at reasonable prices at wholesale markets at Masjid Bunder, Pydhonie and Null Bazaar, mouth watering delicacies during Ramzaan sold on Mohammed Ali Road, and the famous Ferry Wharf or Bhaucha Dhakka.

The population of the ward is 1.28 lakh as per 2011 census, and the floating population of the area is close to 3 lakhs. B ward is a highly congested area with lots of upcoming high-rises and also illegal load bearing structures. While the BMC has taken a tough stand against the illegal structures and has started demolishing them one by one, such buildings continue to crop up.

ISSUES

1. Water contamination is a common feature of this ward as pipelines are overlapping and pass through house gullies and close to sewerage lines
    
2. House gullies - the narrow passage between two buildings which is used to dump waste by residents due to lack of civic sense, and apathy of civic authorities in cleaning it, regularly leads to increasing number of pests, resulting in diseases.
    
3. Traffic jams due to unruly bikers, road blocks due to unattended and illegal parking on roads and congested lanes, lack of car parking lots
    
4. Illegal buildings which are load bearing structures put life and property of residents at risk
    
5. Old and dilapidated buildings, which residents are not willing to vacate. The MHADA Repair Board is dragging its feet on repairing them.
    
6. Water scarcity is faced by most of the old buildings as the water pipeline network is old and damaged. If not pumped with the help of a motor, buildings don't get water.

Political Scenario

With a majority of Muslim voters, the area has traditionally been a Samajwadi Party stronghold. However, Congress slowly started making inroads into B ward. Over the years, many corporators from Samajwadi Party have joined Congress. Presently, though all three corporators – Waqarunnisa Ansari, Javed Juneja and Dynanraj Nikam – are from Congress, as well as the MLA Amin Patel, are from Congress, over the past five years, Samajwadi Party has gained ground once again. However, AIMIM has also started working in the area aggressively since the past two years, and have identified their vote-bank pockets. Delimitation has resulted in reduction of one ward bringing down the number to two electoral wards.

The Official Word

Udaykumar Shiroorkar, Assistant Commissioner of B ward, said that the while there are several issues in B ward, the civic body is trying to address each of them at different level. "We have started with tackling garbage issue to give relief to the residents of the area. Illegal structures are no longer tolerated. All the possible help from the police and court is sought, and structures are pulled down as and when possible without wasting time. Several projects of cleanliness have been taken with the help of citizens by motivating them, and it is paying off very well. Regulating parking is also a top priority for the ward.

Residents Speak

"There are 990 house gullies in the area and cleaning garbage dumps from this area is a huge problem. Until now there were very few spots where people could dump garbage, resulting in garbage strewn everywhere. A numbers of towers have come up in past few years, but this has increased number of vehicles parked on road. This is coupled with illegal hawkers occupying most part of the road, leaving very little space for pedestrians. While other posh areas are always visited by brand ambassadors and celebrities, this ward has been neglected even by corporates, with hardly any CSR activities taking place. There is urgent need to address our civic issues," Dr. Sadiq Uttanwala, founding member of HELP, first ALM of B ward

"Illegal structures raised under the guise of permissions sought for repairs is a complex issue in the area, putting additional burden on the existing civic infrastructure. Lack of open spaces and gardens, and traffic jams are the issues which need to the tackled by the authorities soon," Charudatta Bhatkar, General Secretary, Akhil Bhartiya Dongri Janjagruti Kruti Samiti, Umerkhadi, Sitting Corporators Waqarunnisa Ansari – Congress Javed Juneja - Congress Dynanraj Nikam – Congress