The Hindu Business Line : Living with hopes of a better tomorrow in a hellhole

Mumbai, Dec 11 Civic administrators, politicians and businessmen wax eloquent about elevating Mumbai to an international financial centre, complete with good roads, glitzy buildings, malls, and flyovers, but mushrooming shanty colonies and denial of basic civic amenities to ordinary people can put paid to any such hopes. No doubt, the infrastructure is getting better. Roads are being widened and re-laid; pubic places spruced up; new public transport facilities are under construction; and civic services are improving.

Shanty colonies dotting the city lack water supply and sanitation as also education and health services. Come to Kamaraj Nagar, off the Eastern Express Highway, in the city’s northeastern suburbs, a hell hole in an otherwise tidy Mumbai. There are no less than 20,000 huts with a population of over 1.5 lakh, from different parts of the country, living cheek-by-jowl, under unimaginably poor hygienic conditions.

Mud road

A single narrow mud road stretching over a kilometre to the east has small shops on either side. The road is invariably cluttered with shoppers and commuters, children playing with gay abandon, hawkers encroaching the narrow space and an occasional vehicle obstructing the pathway. A municipal school in the area has broken window panes, wobbly benches and ill-lit toilets with scanty water supply . No wonder, most children prefer to play , rather than study . An open sewerage moves along the doors of most huts exposing residents, especially senior citizens, children and women, to health risks. Name a pest and you will find all of them there. There is no outlet for the sewage water and waste disposal.

Huts for sale

Long queues are seen near toilet blocks that are limited in number. Obviously, this colony is outside the radar of the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai. So, what’s new, one may ask? The living conditions here are worsening by the day because every month about 300 new huts are built by mafia gangs and sold at about Rs 1 lakh each.

There is a great demand for these huts built illegally on the Government land. Thousands who migrate to the city in search of employment are the target. “This is an awful kind of unauthorised real estate development; but it is not possible without connivance between slumlords, police and municipal officials,” fumes the local municipal corporator, Mr. Parmeshwar Kadam.

Fight against mafia

A first time corporator, who won the February 2007 elections of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, Mr Kadam has been waging a lone battle against illegal structures in the area which he says are putting further pressure on existing amenities. “I am totally against these unauthorised huts because my allegiance is primarily to the people here who voted me to victory,” he told Business Line.

Efforts to buy him off have failed, and he now faces risk to life. Kamaraj Nagar is home to almost all linguistic groups of the country, with a large sprinkling of Tamils, Bengalis and those from Hindi-speaking belt. A large portrait of the late Tamil leader Kamaraj Nadar beckons when you walk along the narrow road, but office of the Kamaraj Welfare Association is closed. The thick coat of dust suggests the office has not been opened for ages.

Battle pays off

In addition to waging a battle against slumlords, Mr Kadam is determined to draw the attention of the local administration to the civic inadequacies of this colony. He has succeeded in obtaining water connection. He collected dozens of young men and cleaned up most of the garbage a little before the last monsoon. Mr Kadam’s next target is to organise regular medical services and schooling for the children.

There are many Kamaraj Nagars in Mumbai. They all cry for attention . But the Government and the local administration work overtime for the so-called sophisticated areas.

The shanty colonies are the city’s soft underbelly and a safe hideout for criminals. Goondaism rules and most people are afraid of taking on rowdies. If police turn less corrupt and improve surveillance, and if civic officials provide basic amenities, life would be lot less oppressive , residents told this correspondent.

Despite difficulties, life goes on in Kamaraj Nagar. The area is buzzing with shops, vendors, tailors, automobile workshops and other businesses. But better living conditions will boost the local economy.

More Stories on : Urban Development | Maharashtra

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page