Leaking roofs amp; lopsided system

With the onslaught of monsoons, water logging and choking of storm water drains is a sight common enough. Due to which the buses cannot ply on the roads near the railway station, as the problem gets aggravated there.

Residents complain that small hutments, which were installed on a temporary basis for workers involved in construction or repair activity pertaining toBMC, have now become permanent settlements. And these settlements keep expanding with every passing day.

Slums here have not spared an inch of vacant land, leaving the residents fuming, as they are here to stay. Like the expanse of slums on the way to Kelkar college in Mulund East have multiplied in a short span of time. quot;The children from the slum defecate on the road. They are such a nuisance.

Students walking to college in the mornings have to look the other way and bear the stink. To add to this, petty thefts in the area have also increased over a period of time,quot; says a resident of nearby apartment. The girls from the college also complain that they are regularly harassed on their way to college. Similarly, on the Eastern Express Highway now there is a Highway Jhopadpatti8217;, which earlier used to be a small tenement for the workers working on the road. quot;Every time such settlements come up, we inform the ward office about them. But nothing much is done about it,quot; says Teresa D8217;sa, a Dignitarianfrom Mulund.

Much is said about the quality of education meted out by the BMC schools here. Dr Rajendra Prasad School, now known as Dindayal School, in Ward Number 220, is the only BMC school in the ward. it is equipped to teach only upto fourth standard. All this for a ward of 80,000 people, 50 per cent of which are slums.

Interestingly, the school has only two class rooms for four standards. Two teachers take care of students from first to fourth. The school with a total of 44 students, leaks at several places. Moreover, when one of the teachers decides to take leave or goes out for some work pertaining to the school, the other teacher teaches all the four divisions. It even lacks basic amenities like toilets.

On 5th August 1999, the students of third and fourth standard were seen playing inside the classroom as one of the teachers had been to the head office for some work. quot;I have been telling the authorities to hand over the school to some trust. This is certainly not the way to educate the futureof the country. We also need to expand the school,quot; complains Waliben Makwana, Councillor of the ward.

Also there is absolutely no means of recreation in Mulund West which lacks gardens and playgrounds. Ward 220 has four reserved plots for gardens, but they are yet to be developed. Similarly, a plot which was reserved for a school in Sarojini Naidu Road, was granted to a private builder, while the reservation was shifted to the back side of the plot. The builder was also supposed to undertake the construction of Gabriel nullah8217; near the building, but there are no signs of the same. As of now the nullah has been diverted, as it passes through private property. Due to this diversion, the water overflows on the roads, while the adjoining slums are perennially submerged under water.

When residents here complained about not having a playground, they were handed over a ground at Nahur which lies partially developed. And even the access to this undeveloped form of recreation is such it doesn8217;t even have aproper access route. The compound wall, which is parallel to the road, is now thriving with illegal shops. And the most recent development is an unauthorised structure coming up on the other side of the wall. quot;I have informed the authorities time and again. But now it seems like I will have to move the court to settle this dispute,quot; says Madhu Kotian, the General Secretary of Mulund Railway Passenger Association, who is also a Nahur resident.

On the brighter side, the authorities in Mulund succeeded in getting an Island Garden made near Kelkar Company in Mulund West. Which was constructed after forcefully moving the innumerable encroachments dotting this plot.