Man From Matunga

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August 10, 2005

The Times…They are a-Changing…About Praja, the BMC and a Migrant Family

It isn’t too often that I am pleasantly surprised, especially when it comes to the authorities, especially the BMC.

About eight months ago, a family of around 15 people, suddenly laid claim to a part of a pavement outside the Servants of India Society building on SVP road in Prarthana Samaj. They were probably migrant laborers, probably from Andhra Pradesh. Some of the older men stayed put with the women, whereas the younger men I guess, were usually out working. Half of the six-foot wide pavement was occupied by them, outside a shop that has been shut for over a year. They would sleep, cook, bathe and perform virtually every house-related function on that pavement. They removed all the pavement tiles surrounding their area of occupancy and the entire area reeked of filth.

This is a busy thoroughfare, and there were times when the sheer number of people in their family would actually prevent people from walking on that pavement. I was affected as well, since I had to go from one office of mine to another, past this family, at least thrice a day.

The adjacent shops tried to get them evicted with police and BMC complaints. They were removed a couple of times, but they always returned. A couple of months back, when I asked the local paan-wallah what the status of the complaints was, he just put his hands up in despair saying that no one was willing to listen and help.

Two days after Terrible Tuesday, there was an email going around about help-lines in the city and one of them mentioned a website called Praja, which liaised with the BMC for registering and solving city-related complaints. On a lark, I went to the site and saw a detailed scheme for registering complaints on any issue that the BMC is involved with. I went ahead and lodged a complaint about the nuisance created by this family. I received a tracking number and a message saying that the complaint would be taken care of by 10 August. This was on 02 August.

“Yeah, right!” I thought, and then promptly forgot about this.

Three days ago, while walking on SVP road, I suddenly realized that the family was gone. The pavement was again its usual width and except for some wooden planks and the pot-holed, tile-free rectangular bald spot, which had been hidden from view until then, there was no sign of the enroachment. Maybe they were all at a wedding? Hoping against hope, all of day before and yesterday, I waited for them to return. Till late last night, they had not.

Last evening, I logged onto Praja and using the tracking number, which I had luckily saved, I checked the status of the complaint. It was labeled “closed” as of 08 August, two days prior to their committed date of fulfillment. Wow!

I expect nothing from the BMC and I am happy if they just keep out of my hair. For them (thanks to Praja, of course) to have actually taken pro-active action on a real civic problem? I am zzzimply amazed!

For those bleeding hearts, who might want to shed a tear for the family…go ahead! I am happy that they are gone. They were a complete nuisance and had no reason to take up residence on this busy pavement. It is a different thing to find a spot to sleep at night, which a lot of people do on that stretch…but to live there, cook there, shit there, in full public view, to prevent people from walking, to block-off the entire pavement except for a half-foot width during the rains…is complete unacceptable.

I only hope they don’t return. If they do…that’ll be fodder for another story tomorrow.

Posted by bhavinj at August 10, 2005 04:59 AM

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