A private footpath at Cuffe Parade
Fitted on the wall outside Jolly Maker I apartments at Cuffe Parade (opposite Maker Arcade), the signboard is a telling one. The footpath is clean and green with pretty flower beds at vantage points, it’s lined with tall trees and with lush plants spilling over the boundary wall. Not a shred of garbage on the neatly tiled pavement… but not a soul around either. The signboard cuts a sharp relief on the boundary wall.
Rajkumar Tiwari, the general manager of Jolly Maker Cooperative Society, said that the footpath has been under their care for the past 15 years. “We are the ones who have kept it clean. We are the ones who shell out money to repair and beautify it,” he said. “It is our responsibility and we have to do whatever it takes to keep it free of garbage.
If it means not allowing people to walk their dogs here, then so be it. I feel it is too
much to expect that we should run after others’ dogs to pick up their litter. We have two guards patrolling the area round the clock to make sure this rule is followed. They are also required to chase away stray dogs, though we have never had a problem with stray dogs.”
Keeping in mind the new Greater Mumbai Cleanliness and Sanitation By-Law, he said that if the government “provides an adequate monitoring unit to catch those who flout the law” they would consider taking the sign off. “Until then, the sign stays and we have every right to put up the sign as we are maintaining the footpath,” Tiwari said adamantly.
Vijay Balamwar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner, A Ward, was appalled to hear about this ‘private footpath’ in Cuffe Parade. He categorically stated, “No one has the right to own a footpath, nor does anyone have the right to deny a pedestrian his or her right to walk their dog in a certain place. Now that this has come to our attention, we will have the signboard removed immediately.”