Former corporators state that another unique issue plaguing these wards is the redevelopment of old buildings.
From having a web of old dingy lanes to housing multi-storeys dating back to several decades, the B and C wards in Mumbai are not only the two geographically smaller wards in the island city, but also home to some of Mumbai’s oldest corners and pockets. Located at the fag end of south Mumbai, the wards in B ward are the smallest of all the 25 municipal wards having only two corporator constituencies, while C ward has three constituencies.
Home to the congested localities of Bhindi Bazar, Dongri, Minara Masjid, Kalbadevi and Chirabazar, the B and C wards not only houses century-old ‘pagdi’ style houses but is also home to Mumbai’s oldest clothes and jewellery markets. However, these small wards are not without their own issues. One of the key issues that plagues these ward is mismanagement of solid waste in public spaces. Since these wards happen to have congested localities in the city, a large portion of the wards comprises narrow dingy lanes. As BMC’s waste collection vans can’t enter these lanes, the locals regularly dispose of waste on the lanes itself. Another key issue that plagues these wards is the lack of water supply.
Also, these two wards have a stark population mixture. While B Ward is home to a majority Muslim population, C ward houses a large number of Hindus, especially from the Marwari and Jain communities. Many residents living in these two wards are associated with clothing and jewellery trade in the local markets.
Between 2017 and 2022, B ward had sitting corporators from the Congress — Afreen Shaikh and Nikita Nikam. C ward had the BJP’s Atul Shah, Akash Purohit and Rita Makwana as elected representatives. With the civic elections due in January next year, candidates say that if re-elected, their first priority will be to address issues related to decongesting traffic and getting rid of encroachments in the area.
B ward houses ward numbers 224 and 223. Last year, these two wards were reserved for OBC and general women candidates during the BMC’s lottery. This year, while ward number 224 has been reserved for a general woman candidate, ward number 223 has been reserved for an OBC woman candidate.
“This year, there is a serious competition among party workers to finalise their candidates for the two seats in B ward. Since the two electoral constituencies house a large number of minority population, it’s likely that Congress will have a clear majority. I am not yet sure whether I will get a ticket this time as well, but if I am re-elected, I will solely focus on improving the water supply system in the area,” Afreen Shaikh told The Indian Express on Thursday.
C ward comprises the corporate constituencies 220, 221 and 222. This time, ward number 220 has been reserved for a woman candidate, 222 for an OBC candidate, while no reservations have been made for ward number 221.
“Repairing old houses is not a solution. The only way forward is to redevelop these buildings and our hope will be to push the government to take up a larger cluster development project in this area,” Atul Shah, former corporator from constituency number 220 told The Indian Express.
“The B and C wards are common in many aspects and have many common problems in general. One of the key issues that I would like to address is the issue of waste management. Considering the larger portion of these wards comprises narrow lanes, garbage vans are unable to enter them so a door-to-door collection policy could be encouraged,” Shah added.
The two wards fall under the Mumbadevi assembly constituency that has Congress leader Amin Patel as the sitting legislator for the fourth consecutive term. Prior to this, Patel also served as a corporator in the civic body. Speaking to The Indian Express, Patel said resolving issues in these two wards requires a much broader approach.
“Another primary objective is to ensure the old clothing and jewellery markets are revamped. We have already mooted a plan to construct a dedicated shopping plaza for these two sectors. Once the election is over, we will streamline it,” said Patel adding the key issues in this area aren’t entirely dependent on the local corporator but requires a proper top-down approach.
