Waste side story

Excessive garbage is one of the major problems in this ward,especially around Dadar station,Dharavi,Mahim fort and Mahim creek. With a population of 5.9 lakh,the ward produces 670 metric tonnes of solid waste daily. The flower and fish markets near Dadar station as well as wholesale markets generate unmanageable quantities of solid waste,which often piles up on the arterial Senapati Bapat Marg,impeding vehicular movement.

“Although the road has been freed of encroachments,people still live and sleep on Senapati Bapat Marg. This,along with hawkers,makes the solid waste and traffic problems worse,” Rawat said.

MNS’ Sudhir Jadhav,the local corporator,claims he has ensured that the markets operating are authorised,but accumulation of excessive solid waste cannot be helped. “The BMC collects garbage from these markets at least two-three times a day,but these markets are huge and business goes on throughout the day,” said Jadhav. He added that he has used most of his funds on tending to problems of chawls,such as providing drainage lines and addressing water woes.

Besides,Mithi river brings floating garbage towards Mahim creek. The Mahim fort is carpeted with slums,some with three and four-storey tenements,and is another solid waste nightmare. “Small garbage vans don’t even go all the way up the fort. Even toilets in this area are insufficient,” said activist Taruna Kumbhar,who contested the 2012 polls as a citizens’ candidate,but lost to MNS’ Shraddha Patil.

Solid waste is also an issue in Dharavi,Asia’s largest slum,which has a number of commercial establishments. Often,garbage chokes drainage lines,leading to muck on the roads.

Congestion is also increasing with office complexes such as Ruby Mills and Kohinoor Square attracting hundreds of vehicles per day.

Residents say corporators have not done enough in developing and maintaining open spaces,though the ward is home to recreational grounds such as Shivaji Park and Baji Prabhu Udyan. According to a survey by MMRDA,the per capita developed open space available in G North is 0.43 hectares per person.

Of the 11 councillor wards,five are held by MNS,two by Shiv Sena and one each by an independent,Congress,RPI and SP. Before the last election,the ward had five Congress corporators,four Shiv Sena corporators,and one each from MNS and Akhil Bharatiya Sena.

In the past year,the corporators have spent nearly 85 per cent of corporators fund (Rs 60 lakh each),ward committee fund (Rs 40 lakh each) and the annual budget allotted for the wards,as per data from G North ward office. According to the ward office,funds were under-utilised as bidders quoted an average of 15 per cent below the estimated cost in most cases.

manasi.phadke@expressindia.com

The G North ward

Ward Profile:

Spread across 9.07 sq km,the ward generates 670 metric tonnes of solid waste daily. Though BMC collects garbage twice or thrice every day,it claims the amount of waste generated from the flower,fish and other wholesale markets near Dadar station is unmanageable.

Ward No. Corporator Utilisation of funds

175 Sabareddy Bora (RPI) 95

176 Anusha Kodam (Shiv Sena) 90.3

177 Rajendra Suryavanshi (Shiv Sena) 90

178 Vakil Shaikh (Congress) 86.4

179 Jyotsna Parmar (Samajwadi Party) 95

180 Vishnu Gaikwad (Independent) 81

181 Shraddha Patil (MNS) 86.5

182 Virendra Tandel (MNS) 95.3

183 Manish Chavan (MNS) 67.8

184 Sudhir Jadhav (MNS) 66.9

185 Sandeep Deshpande (MNS) 79.2