Seat watch | H West ward: In ward housing posh areas, traffic, commercialisation among key issues

Well known for its active citizenry, the H West ward comprising posh areas of Bandra, Khar and Santacruz west, is a popular neighbourhood in the city boasting of a variety of restaurants, cafes and shopping stops.

It, however, is not devoid of its own set of problems, ranging from incessant traffic and honking, commercialisation of residential areas, parking woes to even rickshaws refusing to ply by the meter among others. These issues coincide with that of road works, rapid redevelopment, garbage piles, poor footpaths, etc, to make the ward with soaring rents leaving a lot lacking.

What is undeniable among the residents is that they are looking forward to the return of the corporators. “Corporators are the one stop for all resident’s grievances,” said Lillian Pais, a resident who ends up doing much of the cross coordination between department when an issue needs resolving.

Maria D’Souza, from the residents’ group Mount Mary ALM (Advanced Locality Management), said, “With corporators, at least the various things that are floated for the area will have to get past the checks and balances of the corporators. We are very much looking forward to them.”

In the 2017 elections, the ward emerged as one of the strongholds of the BJP, with three of its six seats won by the party. The names of three former corporators – Swapna Mhatre, Alka Kerkar, and Hetal Gala – are expected to repeat again in the candidate list due to their years of connect with the people..

Another corporator who has continued to be active is Asif Zakaria, from the Congress. With his ward being reserved for women, Zakaria will be out of the fight. A former independent candidate, Raja Rahebar Khan, will be holding fort for the party from ward 102.

“The commercialisation of residential areas is a huge issue, as it causes a lot of disturbance and chaos, particular in the goathans. It brings with it parking issues, wasteful expenditure in the name of beautification, and traffic,” said Zakaria.

“Never ending road works and redevelopment has also led to air pollution and the destruction of the environment, and the infrastructure is unable to handle the burden of it all,” the former corporator added.

Traffic was an issue mentioned by everyone alike. “Traffic is hardly restricted to the weekends, it is everyday,” said D’Souza, whose ALM keeps a strong watch on ongoings and has stopped concretisation of the internal roads in the past.

“Apart from the influx of crowds coming into Bandra, the blame lies of poor road discipline and parking everywhere. In this mix, no rickshaws agree to ply by meter, most operating only through apps.”

When residents attempt to walk, footpaths are not inviting either. Pais said, “When drain covers over footpaths break, the H West ward office doesn’t have replacements of the exact size, and the footpath is rendered uneven. Hawkers and even residential societies have taken over the footpath, making many stretches unusable. Covers for the water chambers too are not the right fit, and make a clang everytime a car goes over.”

Pais adds that parking zones are not enforced, no adequate signage is around road works, garbage dumping sites persist. “When citizens complain, departments put the responsibility on other wards, and the coordination falls upon the everyday citizen,” she said.

D’Souza questioned why road works are all taken up simultaneously. To which Mhatre, from the BJP who plans to file her nomination on Tuesday, said, “Roads works are being taken to prevent potholes in the future, hence some trouble is going to be felt in the present for the good of the future. Only the non-monsoon months are available for road works, hence they all happen in a condensed time. We want all the roads to be ready as soon as possible, hence the volume.”

Mhatre plans to work on the issue of parking, despite the insurmountable task it may seem, as well as add to the public grounds for children to play on.

“Bandra is the heart of Mumbai, everyone wants to be here,” she said, noting the growing floating population, especially around the festivities.

Alka Kerkar, former BJP corporator of Khar West, mentioned areas of road work, cleanliness, and parking as issues that citizens raise.