Chandivali residents go on hunger strike for 90 feet road

Residents of Chandivali in Mumbai went on a hunger strike to demand better roads. They currently spend 45 minutes to an hour to traverse a 15-minute road to get to Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road. The planned 90 feet road, which would ease their struggles, remains incomplete. The residents are demanding the completion of the road and a specific timeline for the construction plan. Despite a protest in February and promises from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, no progress has been made. The residents are frustrated with the lack of attention from their representatives and plan to continue their fight.

Mumbai: Imagine being so fed up with your daily commute that you are pushed to go on a hunger strike to demand better roads. This is the situation of the residents of Chandivali, who have to spend a minimum 45 minutes to an hour to traverse a 15-minute road to get to Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR). A planned road that would ease their struggles, the 90 feet road, sits incomplete.

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In protest, the citizens gathered on Sunday morning on the Nahar Amrit Shakti Road on a hunger strike from 10am to 6pm. They said they were full of frustration and anger at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) apathy in ensuring adequate roads to their locality.

“We have no choice but to use the DP Road Number 9, because that connects Chandivali Farm Road to JVLR, which takes over 60 minutes to cross. If the road was in a better condition, it should not take more than 10 to 15 minutes,” said Mandeep Singh Makkar, founder of the Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association (CCWA), who is leading the fight.

The alternative for the residents, the 90 feet road, is in the development plan, but has been stuck in limbo. Around 200 meters of the road was constructed in 2021, and the now partial road is being used as a parking lot for trucks and bikes. With its completion, the residents would have a better option to get to JVLR from Chandivali Farm Road. The road would connect them with Powai and the eastern and western suburbs.

“Our first demand from the BMC is that we want the 90 feet road completed as soon as possible. The other is that we want a specific timeline of the construction plan in writing,” said Mandeep.

Despite a protest in February that resulted in a meeting with P Velarasu, additional municipal commissioner (Projects), who promised them the tendering process would finish in a month, no progress has been made. The lack of attention from the MP or MLA also angered him.

“Time is the most precious thing,” said Mohini Maheshwari, a fellow resident. “And here we’re having to go an hour to 45 minutes early when we want to go anywhere.”

Mohini goes every evening to take her children to their classes, having to leave at 3:30pm to reach nearly an hour after. All the residents have similar stories, their commutes lengthened by the narrow DP Road Number 9, which is in an unmotorable condition. Potholes dot the entire route, hawkers and slum dwellers line the sides, coming to the fore at night. No footpaths mean pedestrians have to walk in unsafe conditions.

The residents moved to a spot inside their housing society, Synchronicity Housing Society, at 12:00, saying they didn’t want to add to the inconvenience on the road.

“We are responsible citizens. We want to make our issue known, but we don’t want to obstruct others for long,” said Mandeep. The idea was to have people participating drop in as and when they could, taking out time from their Sunday.

Anil Somhar leaves for his office in Marol every day between 9:30am and 10 am, to reach at 11:30am, a distance that without the traffic, shouldn’t take him more than 15 minutes. “I check Google maps before I leave home to see if there’s any traffic block,” said Somhar.

The residents also have the option of the Panch Shrishti road to get to JVLR, but that is a longer route which is also similarly marred by traffic. A third option is the private internal road of the Lake Homes complex, which has been closed to outsiders since June.

Sanjay Kalra, another resident said, “This is a failure of town planning. They’re constantly allowing new high-rises to be constructed, but they’re not ensuring that there are proper roads that can service the population boom.”

The residents had nearly all been living in the area for over a decade and spoke of worsening traffic in the duration they had seen the area blossom into an upmarket area.

“When our children have their exams, they are tense and yet they have to travel for over an hour. What worries us is what will happen when there’s an emergency and a fire truck or ambulance has to pass through - they will get stuck,” said Priyanka Prasad, a resident.

Another resident, Sadhna Malhotra, a senior citizen, complained about how the potholes on DP Road Number 9 were adding to her spine problems.

However, a better future may be in view. P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner (Projects) said, “The tender is ready and already approved. The land acquisition process is not complete. Once that is complete, we will float the tender. The roads dept will take up the work immediately after monsoon provided the land is acquired.”

At the end of the day, Mandeep said of what he considers a successful protest. “We got a lot of support from residents, with a lot of people continuously coming to meet us and join the protest. No officials have reached out to us yet, but we expect them to at least acknowledge our attempts at fighting for our basic needs.” He remains motivated, and as his next step, will head in protest to the BMC headquarters.