Bus karo yeh tamasha!

November 8: The last thing residents of Kasturba Road and Khajuria Road in Kandivli do after they wake up each day is open their windows ...

November 8: The last thing residents of Kasturba Road and Khajuria Road in Kandivli do after they wake up each day is open their windows and let the sunlight in. Far from the sanitised morning air, they have been gagging on smoke rising from makeshift roadside chulas and the whiff of morning ablutions. The cluster of drivers and cleaners of luxury buses permanently parked at the junction have turned the pavement into a residential address, forcing residents in the locality to remain entombed in their houses, windows shut and doors bolted.

Having got

nowhere with the authorities concerned, they finally filed a complaint with the Additional Metropolitan Magistrate of the 43rd court in October, saying that it has become a practice with over a dozen private luxury bus owners to park their vehicles at the junction throughout the day, where parking is prohibited as per rules. Inspector of police (P-Division, traffic control branch) and senior inspector, Kandivli (W) police, have been named as accused and charged under Section 290 (public nuisance) of the Indian Penal Code. Summons have also been issued to the officers through the office of the commissioner of police and they are scheduled to present themselves before the court on November 25.

In his complainant, Rajan Mahidhar, says the drivers and cleaners practically live in the buses. They use abusive language, gamble, cook and even attend to the call of nature in the vicinity. The women residing in the flats opposite the parked buses are worst hit as the drivers and cleaners make indecent gestures and pass lewd comments at them.

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Says Rajni Raipancholia, a resident: “They can easily peep into our one- and two-storey houses. I cannot even stand in the balcony with my little son. The cleaners and drivers keep staring. We have to keep our windows shut all the time and the lights have to be kept on throughout the day.”

Adds Pushpa Shah, another resident: “The windows of my bedroom, which is adjacent to the road where the buses are parked, have to be kept closed. We have been compelled to keep fresh air and daylight out for many months now.”In his complaint, Mahidhar states that all his efforts at redressal from the two officers named as accused went unheeded. “Tumhala kay tras? (How does the parking cause you any trouble?) the policemen used to ask me,” he says.An officer with the Kandivli (W) police station says the matter concerns the Traffic Department and that they would need specific instructions from them. An officer with the Traffic Control Branch, in turn, claims that steps will be taken to solve the problem soon.