BMC apathy turns A ward into a byword for neglect

A Ward, comprising Churchgate, Nariman Point, Ballard Estate, Marine Drive, Cuffe Parade and Colaba, is one of the worst administered

- Dhairya Gajara

A ward should be one of the best maintained wards in the city, given that it boasts of Mantralaya, the Vidhan Bhavan, the BMC head office, the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Reserve Bank of India, and the Bombay High Court.

But that is not the case. In fact, A Ward, which comprises Churchgate, Nariman Point, Ballard Estate, Marine Drive, Cuffe Parade and Colaba, is one of the worst administered wards of the richest civic body of the country.

A Ward has not had an assistant municipal commissioner for a long time – the last one, Kiran Dighavkar, was transferred almost five years ago. Since then the ward is being managed by executive engineers who have been given additional charge as ward officers. Asked about this, a BMC official said there is a shortage of officials. But certainly an assistant municipal commissioner from any other ward could have been posted here, given A Ward's importance.

Mantralaya is besieged by unauthorised food vendors and hawkers. Street-side cooking has become a routine sight, especially in the vicinity of Akashwani MLA Hostel, the residence of Maharashtra's legislators. Jeevan Bima Marg, the thoroughfare leading to Mantralaya, has devolved into a parking lot for politicians and officers. At night the pavement opposite the BMC head office is full of vendors of food made and sold in the most unhygienic conditions. Every civic law with regard to food is violated here. The area around CST is occupied by hawkers in utter contempt of a high court ruling banning hawking in the vicinity of railway stations.

The bus stops at Mantralaya are broken and rust-coated. Even the headquarters of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and the ruling BJP are not immune to the encroachment menace.