Jai Bhim Nagar residents demand basic services from BMC
Jai Bhim Nagar residents, rendered homeless by BMC's illegal demolition, demand basic services, citing health risks and safety concerns.
MUMBAI: The residents of Jai Bhim Nagar in Powai, rendered homeless after their informal settlement was demolished by the BMC on June 6 despite a GR banning demolitions in the monsoon months, wrote to the BMC on Tuesday demanding four water tankers per day, medical checkups, fumigation and lighting on the footpath they currently stay on.
Noting that the Bombay high court found the demolitions carried out by BMC as illegal and directed an FIR to be filed against the officials behind it, the letter to the municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani comes after several unsuccessful attempts to appeal to the S ward office for basic services.
“The BMC sends a meagre 1000 litres per day, one tanker for the entire settlement on the footpath, in contrast to the 40 to 90 litres they give to slum areas per day and 150 litres given to other residents,” said Adarsh Priyadarshi from the Jai Bhim Nagar Bachao Samiti. The letter also noted the BMC has also stopped the twice-a-week fumigation done on the road, leading to an increase in mosquitoe-spreading diseases like malaria, typhoid and jaundice in the basti. The public toilets set up by BMC for the residents are also in dire need of cleaning, leaving residents with no choice but to opt for open defecation instead, adding to disease vulnerability. Tangentially, they have also demanded that BMC conduct a medical checkup of the residents.
“On one side, a 90-feet road gets completely dark in the night, and this has led to instances of women being groped and pets being killed,” added Priyadarshi. “We asked the BMC to provide street lights in those areas, but they said that the land was private, hence, they cannot provide it.”
The response received on the other counts was positive, as per the residents and the Samiti, with a medical camp organised, toilet cleaning conducted, fumigation carried out, and the BMC assuring them of four water tankers every day. “It remains to be seen whether they will actually follow through, as they had dismissed our earlier requests. They should not think they are doing a favour to us, when it is due to their illegal demolition that the residents are on the footpaths and roads.”
HT’s calls to get BMC’s response went unanswered.
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