Local Lens: Encroachment woes

“I have written to the State Environment Department and the MCZMA apprising them about the illegal activities being carried out on the CRZ land. It was a well-thought strategy where they dumped debris in the mangroves,later levelled the ground and have now encroached upon the area to park private tourist buses by destroying the mangroves,” said Pandey.

Resisting rehab

Strong resistance against rehabilitation by families living in 2,000 slum settlements along the Tansa pipeline in Ghatkopar has held up work on the important Tansa replacement project. A morcha was organised by 500 people from Ambedkar Nagar to the N ward office in Ghatkopar East on Wednesday to protest against the relocation after civic authorities approached settlers living in 795 huts to move to a building in Mahul. Following a High Court order to prevent people from staying within 10 metres of the pipeline,the civic body expedited the process of relocating eligible families living in slums that came up prior to 1995 and construct a boundary wall along the pipeline.

Thousands of hutments can be seen along the old and worn-out Tansa pipeline while it passes through Ambedkar Nagar,Bheem Nagar,Rajawadi and near Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in N Ward. In the first lottery that was drawn to rehabilitate people,795 families were selected by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

Falguni Dave,a corporator from N ward said,“People eligible for rehabilitation refuse to shift to apartments in Mahul. They want to be relocated close to their existing homes.” She added that since HC orders have to be complied with,efforts are on to convince people to relocate.

Raising a stink

Monsoons have wreaked havoc for residents of Irla because of illegal connections of underground sewage lines to stormwater drains along the Irla society road. Residents have complained to the BMC that owners of the popular shopping destination Alfa have connected their sewer lines to the rainwater drains because of which filthy sewage water gets accumulated in the area after heavy rain.

“We have complained to the ward officer but the shop owners have protection from local corporators. Some merchants in the Irla Vyapari Mandal told me that they opt to illegally connect their sewer line to stormwater drains because getting it done legally and in a proper manner is expensive and requires permission from the BMC,which takes a long time,” said Irla resident Ruben Masceranhas.

The stretch from Cooper Hospital to S V Road is the most affected. The recent spell of heavy rain saw ankle-deep untreated sewage water along this stretch.

Tree collapse

Residents of Ranade Road near Shivaji Park in Dadar have a recurring problem every monsoon. The lane is dotted with old trees on both sides and there are several incidents of tree collapse due to heavy rain. “In this season itself there have been two such incidents in June. Luckily,no one was hurt. Not only is it a danger for pedestrians and vehicles,but it also brings traffic in the lane to a standstill,” said Aatish Shah,a resident of Shivaji Park.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s Sandeep Deshpande,the local corporator for the ward,said residents have not officially complained to him about this issue. “This is my first monsoon as a corporator of this ward. Before the rains,I had ensured that the BMC prunes all trees in the ward. However,the problem is that there are many trees inside private buildings and housing societies facing the road,” he said.

The private buildings have to trim the trees within their compound at their own cost and that does not happen,leading to mishaps during the monsoon,he added.

Illegal hutments

Illegal hutments in Ganpat Patil Nagar,Dahisar,are increasingly causing security and sanitation problems for people,particularly I C Colony residents. Ganpat Patil Nagar is built on a no-development zone,which is also a Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ),and is home to approximately 12,000 illegal shanties.

According to local corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar,there have been an increasing number of robberies in the surrounding area,all of which trace back to Ganpat Patil Nagar. “Approximately 300 reports of robberies in I C colony alone have been filed in the MHB Police Station,” said Ghosalkar. These hut dwellers have allegedly been illegally routing water from I C Colony’s water supply and stealing electricity too. “They don’t have any electricity or water meters. The residents of Ganpat Patil Nagar also steal electricity from the nearby street lights,” Ghosalkar,a Shiv Sena corporator said.

Due to the lack of proper bathrooms in Ganpat Patil Nagar,many locals reportedly defecate on the streets near I C Colony,causing severe sanitation problems. “They have also set up more than 300 shops in the area without any permission or license,” Ghosalkar said.

The residents have complained to the BMC and the Food and Health Department on multiple occasions. “Each time the BMC clears out the illegal hutments,they return in a few months. There seems to be no permanent solution to this menace,” he added.

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