Thane: Fed-up, citizens fix roads in Ulhasnagar themselves

Members of several NGOs carried out repair work of the bridge that connects the east and west side of Ulhasnagar. Pics/Navneet Barhate

Spurred by the pathetic condition of the roads on two key bridges of Ulhasnagar ahead of Ganesh festival, citizens collected funds from local businessmen and politicians to repair the stretch of road on the bridges. It was the donation of R11,000 by Ulhasnagar BJP MLA Kumar Ailani that became the talk of town. However, citizens' initiative resulted in the repair of potholes on both the bridges. The citizens had to take the initiative as the five-year term of the elected general body in Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC) has come to an end and the corporators do not have any say in the affairs of the civic body.

When citizens, who were from several non-governmental organisations (NGOs), approached the politicians for donations they were hoping that they would take up all responsibility for the road repairs. After the citizens took the initiative, MLA Ailani is said to have repaired the road on the other bridge, which is being seen as an exercise to salvage his reputation.

Citizens collecting donations from Ulhasnagar BJP MLA Kumar Ailani

When numerous complaints to the civic officials didn't yield any result, NGOs including Helping Hand foundation, Rashtriya Chaava Sanghatana and Jai Mata Di Group conducted a donation drive to repair the roads on Shahad Bridge and the bridge that connects the east and the west side of Ulhasnagar. The group carried a small Ganesh idol and went about collecting donations as they sang bhajans.

Instead of accepting cash donations, the citizens asked the donors to transfer the money directly to the accounts of the contractors and suppliers to be engaged for the road repairs.

"We visited several businessmen from the Vyaprai Sanghatan who made donations. We also visited MLA Kumar Ailani. Instead of assuring us that he will repair the road he gave a donation of R11,000. Similarly, Omie Kalani gave Rs 21,000 and Bharat Gangotri, a local politician, gave Rs 11,000. A sum of Rs 55,000 was collected from the donation. Accordingly, on Friday, we undertook the road repairs to complete the work of the bridge that connects Ulhasnagar's east and west side," said Satyan Puri, founder president of Helping Hands Foundation.

Puri said that the donation from MLA Ailani went viral on social media turning into a political issue. On Thursday night, Ailani went to the Shahad Bridge with the PWD officials and young party workers to repair the road. "However, he did it to save face or else the donation from him would have raised the question that he tried to shrug off the issue by giving donation," said Puri.

Niklhil Gole, state chief of Rashtriya Chaava Sanghatana said, "The reason for the protest was to get good roads to citizens who pay taxes. We can't blame the municipal commissioner who has been recently appointed. However the MLA in every sabha or program is announcing that he brought crore of funds for Ulhasnagar. Then where did the fund go? However, the fact that citizens themselves had to collect money to repair roads is embarrassing for the politicians," said Gole.

Ailani said, "Different citizens and mandals visit us for donations and these people, too, came with a Ganesh Idol. However I thought they came for mandal donation so I gave them a donation. If they would have informed me about the road repair I would have got it done. Would R11,000 complete the road repair work?. The people who are creating this issue are from the rival political parties who are trying to defame me. I carried out the work of Shahad bridge overnight and completed it. I had also informed the municipal commissioner to get the work done," added Ailani.

Rs 55K
Sum collected by the citizens for road repairs