192 complaints not resolved in 18 months: Mumbai residents protest outside BMC office

Residents of Khar, Santacruz and Bandra have been protesting since July 7 to demand that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) solve complaints they have

Residents of Khar, Santacruz and Bandra have been protesting since July 7 to demand that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) solve complaints they have filed in the public grievance registration system over the past 18 months. The system was set up in 2015.

Residents protest outside BMC’s Bandra ward office. (HT)

Fed up with the BMC’s inaction, the residents have been holding silents protests outside H/West ward office in Bandra every Monday and Friday. Members of Khar Advanced Locality Management (ALM) and other residents participate in the protest. ALM president Aftab Siddique said 192 complaints by citizens about civic issues in the past 18 months have not been resolved.

A few protesters sit outside the ward office and at Linking Road alternatively to avoid the BMC from taking action against them. Siddique said, “We have been asking senior BMC officials to meet us since February 17, but they keep cancelling or postponing it.” The residents’ complaints include illegal encroachments, drainage issues, potholes, tree cutting and other common problems faced by residents and shopkeepers of Shirley, Khar, Chuim, Santacruz and Bandra areas.

The residents now plan to meet the civic chief. “We have been using sarcastic remarks because the BMC tells us we are the only ones complaining. The BMC registers only 25 grievances per day. We will take this issue up with the civic chief Ajoy Mehta this week,” added Siddique.

Assistant municipal commissioner Sharad Ughade told HT, “A limited number of public grievances are registered on Mondays and Fridays for quality service. The protestors’ complaints will be addressed on the said days.”