3 days ago
Jogeshwari residents await a footpath for over 3 years
Mumbai: When Neeta Shah, a 75-year-old pedestrian, died in Malabar Hill on Tuesday after being forced to walk on the road due to the absence of a footpath and coming under the wheels of a bus, it served as a brutal reminder to Jogeshwari West resident Mansoor Darvesh about the fate that could befall residents of his area. Jogeshwari West resident Mansoor Darvesh has been pleading with the BMC to construct a footpath along Swami Vivekananda Road, from Millat Hospital to the Amboli BIT Chowky, for more than three years now (Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times)
Darvesh, 65, has been pleading with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to construct a footpath along Swami Vivekananda Road, from Millat Hospital to the Amboli BIT Chowky, for more than three years now.
'The stretch has crazy traffic and footpaths are non-existent or hardly there,' Darvesh told Hindustan Times. 'Moreover, cars and bikes routinely climb onto the footpath wherever it is there, posing huge risks to children and patients walking along.'
The roughly one-kilometre-long stretch sees massive traffic, especially during peak hours, and is also used by scores of pedestrians across age groups, HT found during a visit to the area. The road is flanked by two hospitals and three big schools, which cumulatively cater to nearly 15,000 students, including many who walk to school.
In most parts, the space left for footpaths is taken over by garbage and sludge. The few patches where a narrow footpath does exist, encroachments such as roadside stalls and eateries block the way, leaving no option for pedestrians but to walk deep inside the road while negotiating heavy traffic.
The situation gets especially problematic during the monsoon, when water collects on both sides of the road and mixes with the sludge to make even walking along the road side unfeasible, said Mohammed Sharif, a resident of the area.
'Still, so many school children walk on the road and we worry they will get into an accident sooner rather than later,' Sharif said.
Perturbed by the situation and apprehensions of an accident, like the one that occurred in Malabar Hill on Tuesday, Sharif's neighbour Darvesh first complained to the K West ward office in March 2022. Most parts of Jogeshwari West come under the K West ward, and Darvesh demanded, via his letter to the ward office, that a proper footpath be constructed along the SV Road stretch to cater to the needs and safety of pedestrians.
Since the letter elicited no response, he complained to the ward office again in April. In June, he submitted an application under the Right to Information Act, asking if any action had been taken on his earlier complaints.
Around a month later, in July 2022, the ward office responded to his complaints, saying the portion of SV Road he had referred to would be widened and footpaths would be constructed thereafter. He also received a response to his RTI application around the same time, saying his query had been resolved.
'Though the ward office did respond to my letters, no timeline was provided regarding when the road would be widened and when we could expect a footpath,' he said.
Since then, Darvesh has been sending reminder letters to the K West ward office every few months.
'But I never get a response,' he said. 'Given the incident in Malabar Hill this week, I will follow up again. Maybe, the authorities will respond this time.'
