Neighbourhood hero
“With knowledge comes solutions”
And with that knowledge, R Sridhar has managed to find solutions to problems relating to organisations like BEST, MCGM, MTNL and Railways …Sonu Bohra Sion
“With knowledge comes solutions”
And with that knowledge, R Sridhar has managed to find solutions to problems relating to organisations like BEST, MCGM, MTNL and Railways …Sonu Bohra Sion
It is often said that time changes things, but in reality you have to change them yourself. This is the diktat of R Sridhar, a Sion resident whose initiative of finding solutions to problems relating to utility organisations, like Brihanmumbai
Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST), Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam LTD (MTNL) and the railways have brought relief to the common man.
“By expressing grievances against these organisations, I became a common face in the departments, so they started responding to my complaints much faster,” admits the proud 47-year-old.
A recent issue he took up was simple, much like the others. “A tree was blocking half the footpath near Gandhi Market area, King’s Circle while the other half was taken over by hawkers. This forced the pedestrians to walk on the main road. My appeals to the local ward office to trim the tree received no response.
I was forced to write a letter with a photograph of the tree to the deputy superintendent of gardens located at the Byculla Zoo. When no response was forthcoming for two months in spite of my constant follow ups, I threatened to file a petition under Right to Information (RTI),” says Sridhar. All his efforts finally forced the concerned authorities to send a team to trim the tree.
Another issue that he effectively tackled was in 1992, with the help of a consumer group called Modernise 48 — a body instrumental in bringing about the change from mechanical telephone exchange to an electronic exchange.
With their help, Sridhar managed to get 3,000 lines transferred from the old Matunga telephone exchange to the new Sion telephone exchange. “We managed to do so by putting positive pressure on the MTNL. We even took up this issue in the parliament with the help of our then Member of Parliament (MP) Sharad Dighe,” smiles Sridhar proudly.
One of the more recent achievements was when he followed up with railway authorities to get the Passenger reservation System (PRS) at Dadar station. After he filed a petition under the RTI Act, he found that, a 10,000 sq ft PRS building was constructed over a span of six years at the cost of Rs 3.35 crore. This new building — with spacious and modern interiors — is equipped with 14 booking windows for outstation tickets. But since the building was under-staffed, several counters were closed.
Another issue having a larger ramification is the doubling of the Mumbai-Chennai Railway line. “The 1,283 km-distance between Mumbai to Chennai takes 40 hours to cover depending on the train. The reason was due to a 551 km long single track. I have been constantly following up,” claims the consumer activist.
In the end, problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. As he puts it: “I have a very inquisitive mind, I believe that assimilating knowledge in life is a never ending process. With knowledge comes solutions to various problems.”