Mumbai: Despite wall, Andheri society gets trash, sewage from slums daily
Mumbai city news: 9 years after the wall was built, residents of Pancham Society continue to live with a constant, unbearable stench and rampant mosquitoes
Nine years since a high retaining wall was built between Pancham Society at Gilbert Hill and neighbouring slums, garbage and sewage from them continues to accumulate on the society’s premises.
The society comprises six residential buildings. Shree Dham building and Mahesh Tower, which abut the Janata Colony slum, are the worst affected; residents said they have for years endured the constant stink of garbage and sewage, and the mosquitoes they attract.
Aditya Suryawanshi, 20, who recently moved in at Shree Dham, said the only view from his flat was of garbage and sewage pipes behind the building. “I noticed the problem only after I moved in. Since it is right outside my window, the stench of sewage is constant. There are many places for mosquitoes to breed,” he said.
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Vincent Aloor, resident and secretary of Mahesh Towers, said, “We’ve had this problem since the society was formed more than 10 years ago. Residents pooled in almost Rs 3 lakh for a screen of creeper plants on the wall to beautify it. But the BMC has not done anything about the health hazards.”
Another resident, who has lived there for 12 years, said that while the amount of garbage had decreased over the years, there needed to be a complete and permanent solution. Local MLA Amit Satam said, “I have asked for a drain to be built between the wall and the society. This should help the sewage flow out.”
An official at the Andheri (W) ward office said a BMC vehicle collected waste from the area regularly, depending on the amount of garbage piled up. But he admitted there was no comprehensive plan in place to solve the problem.