Ward H (East) : Word ‘Flood’ Still Strikes Terror Here : Jan 25, 2007 

In 2005 There Was A Deluge. 2006 Saw A Milder Repeat. Floods Are The Main
Fear Of Residents In Bandra, Khar & Santa Cruz East

By Sandhya Nair I TNN

Mumbai: The H-East Ward was among the worst-hit areas of the city during the
deluge of July 26, 2005. Who can forget the pictures of how Shiv Sena chief
Bal Thackeray had to be paddled to safety as the floodwaters rose around his
house. Monsoon flooding remains the single-largest problem many people in
this ward face every year.

A connected issue is the Mithi River, which flows through the ward and
residents want cleaned and beautified. Clogging of the Mithi contributed
majorly to flooding during the deluge.

Locals want a clean-up campaign initiated by authorities to go the
distance, as the river is again getting choked with muck and rubbish thrown
on it by slum dwellers.

The H-East Ward includes areas in Bandra (East), Khar (E) and Santa Cruz
(E). Other problems plaguing it are overcrowding and congestion, too many
hawkers, dirty roads and rotting piles of garbage.

Places like Kalanagar in Bandra (E) and Air India Colony in Kalina (E)
made headlines when buses were seen submerged in water on July 26, 2005.
Entire households in Kalina’s Air India Colony were driven out of their
homes as rainwater poured in.

Though the civic body has since then been improving drains and widening
nullahs, residents stil dread the arrival of the monsoon every year.

“The only problem in Kalanagar is flooding. In the 2006 monsoon, housing
societies had waist-deep water,” pointed out H N Pal, a resident of
Patrakar Colony for the past 34 years.

Most areas in the ward are prone to flooding. Some of them are Agripada,
Anand Nagar, Maharashtra Nagar, Dnyaneshwar Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Dawri
Nagar, Chaitanya Nagar, Golibar, Ambewadi slum, Ghas Bazar slum, Naupada,
Govt Colony and Bharat Nagar. During the monsoons, all these places bear the
brunt of poor desilting of drains.

The ward has a total of 23 lowlying areas, including the Vakola-Kalina
section, Air India Road in Kalina, Sunder Nagar in Kalina, CST Road in
Kalina, Khar Subway, and Kherwadi Road in Bandra (East).

The ward is also home to one of the city’s bigger efforts to create a
commercial hub. The resulting Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) literally created
gold from garbage as it was built on marshland on either side of Mahim
Creek. But the BKC’s skyrocketing real estate stands cheek-byjowl with
slums.

The entire H-East Ward is home to many major slums, like Behrampada,
Naupada, Jawahar Nagar, New Agripada, Golibar, Indira Nagar and Maharashtra
Nagar. Slums like Shastri Nagar, Siddharth Nagar and Saibaba Nagar are now
under redevelopment.

Even the dilapidated government colony

in Bandra (East) will soon witness major redevelopment.

The contrasts between BKC and the slums is repeated in other localities
of the ward. Most areas in Kalanagar, Bandra (East), are clean and have some
greenery, but it is a different story when one approaches dusty areas, like
Khernagar in Bandra (East). The roads are crowded and filled with hawkers.

Tushar Jagtap, who runs a medical clinic in the Khernagar area, said,
“The hawker menace is such that women cannot walk on the road without being
harassed.” Khernagar also faces severe water problems, which have been
attributed to the many illegal constructions mushrooming in the area.

Bandra’s MIG colony, which is otherwise an oasis of peace, has been
facing an acute water shortage for the past four to five months. Madhusudan
Marathe, an MIG resident since 1962, said, “Societies here are rationing
water as it is in short supply. The problem has been continuing for five
months and the reason given is some work is happening on the pipeline.”

Marathe is, however, most irked by the hawker menace. “Dharmadikari
Marg, between Mhada and Guru Nanak Hospital, is infested with hawkers and
food stalls. The benefit of road widening has been lost due to these
hawkers,” he said.

The ward also has industrial and chemical units. A number of industries
are concentrated on CST Road in Kalina and Vakola.

MONSOON FEARS: Residents wade through floodwaters during the 26/7 deluge in
Kalina. (Right) Slums sit near the Bandra-Kurla Complex in this ward of
contrasts

VOIC E OV E R

Nisar Khan AIR INDIA COLONY KALINA ‘After the big 26/7 flood, the ‘BMC has
started looking after the drains, but they still haven’t been cleared of
garbage. Besides, after the monsoons are over, no one comes to the area.

Sabiha Nomani HOMEMAKER VIDYAVIHAR ‘Garbage has been lying around in this
area for weeks together and I am still waiting to see a garbage van. The
other big problem here is the dog menace. Residents are afraid of moving out
in the night for fear of being bitten by a stray dog. The BMC doesn’t take
note of these problems.

Umesh Lad BROKER KALINA ‘The streets and lanes in my area are not being
cleaned and finding a ‘dustbin is difficult. Even the gutters are rarely
cleaned. I’m also surprised how the BMC cannot see the illegal food stalls
that are mushrooming around the area.

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