F North ward: Who will rein in this hooliganism?

Hoodlums, hawkers and motorists continue to gobble up public spaces with brazenness

Hawkers and vendors encroach on the footpath at the entrance of Gandhi Market in Matunga. Pic/Datta Kumbhar

We had on July 18 highlighted rampant construction, gard­ens encroached upon by anti-social elements and chaos on roads of the ward. Residents allege traffic jams, drug addi­cts and encroachers continue to plague this ward.

Corporators Speak

Trushna Vishwasrao, Antop Hill
Illegal structures or slums need to be demolished. I can’t survey the entire ward and alert the civic body about illegalities as there are meetings lined up for the proposed development plan.

Pranita Waghdhare, Sion
There are several road works underway which cause traffic jams. I have asked the BMC to expedite the laying of new roads so that commuters do not suffer for long.

Expert Speak

Nikhil Desai, Member, F North Ward Citizens Federation
This ward perhaps has the highest number of trees in the city, which are maintained by residents. But there is absolute chaos when it comes to the traffic situation, especially near the railway stations and the markets. Road repairs only make this worse. Taxi drivers park as and where they please. It’s little use asking them not to do so as it happens again the next day.

BMC Speak

Keshav Ubale, Assistant municipal commissioner
We are working on removing all kinds of encroachments from footpaths. We have spotted a major encroachment on the Tansa pipeline and near Ambedkar College, on which there are nearly 2,500 illegal structures. We are also working on setting up new markets so that they ease the burden on the existing ones.

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