The Venus Housing Society, and three ‘chota Venus’ structures which are ground plus three structures, is embroiled in a row with neighbour Worli Dairy, over a rapidly widening cesspool of water, muck and debris in the Dairy premises
The debris which has collected at Worli Dairy. Pics/Bipin Kokate
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The Venus Housing Society, a clutch of seven high rise towers and three ‘chota Venus’ structures which are ground plus three structures, is embroiled in a row with neighbour Worli Dairy, over a rapidly widening cesspool of water, muck and debris in the Dairy premises.
The water and overgrown, dense foliage at the Dairy
A lake-swamp it is
The now practically defunct Dairy stands opposite the Worli Seaface promenade, Venus buildings are adjacent to the Dairy. The Venus residents are livid over a growing pool of water, “it resembles a lake now,” says Venus resident Ashit Sheth, smiling wryly as he adds, “sea gulls are flying in from the seaface opposite and coming towards this puddle, which has become a lake-swamp,” in the Dairy premises. A mound of debris and overgrown green shrubs are next to this swamp. The residents blame the growing mosquitoes in their housing complex on the stagnant, dirty water. Arun Sehgal, chairman, Venus says sarcastically, “the mosquito has become the national insect of this area.”
The Worli Dairy mess
Irked Venus ‘vaasis’, stood with resident Sanjiv Punjabi who said, “if this is not cleaned up, we will stand with posters drawing attention to our plight, on the day of the Mumbai marathon (Jan 15) on the Worli Seaface.”
Residents congregate below Venus towers to voice their problemsResidents congregate below Venus towers to voice their problems
The Mumbai Marathon
The Worli Dairy is a very important dot on the marathon map. It is the point from where the half-marathon (21 km) starts. It is also a 'holding area’ (which means athletes can store their bags in the premises) for the half-marathon run. Like the Azad Maidan, which is the start point and holding area for the full marathoners (42-km), the Dairy fulfils the same function for the half-marathoners. Both the full and half-marathon routes are through the Worli Seaface elite, international athletes will also be running across, so any kind of statement like holding posters or morchas will mean embarrassment for the authorities.
A resident shows the bite marks on her neck (right) The residents Arun Sehgal and Ashit Sheth
Urvashi Vanvaria of Venus said, “Housing societies are fined if they do not keep their premises clean. What about this government property?”
Shailesh Shah, old time resident who has written an email dated January 10 on the CM and PM’s email address asking for “prompt action” asked, “The Dairy has asked us to clean this, but why should we clean it?” Shah too supported the view that residents must stand with banners and during the marathon pointing to the mess. Residents said that the government charges a Swachch Bharat Cess, but government premises itself are in a pathetic state.
The finger pointing
Dairy officials though have pointed fingers at Venus, itself saying water is coming through the housing complex into the Dairy premises through the drainage pipe.
For Vandana Mahnot of the 'C’ block of Venus building, “there is not just water, but a large amount debris and garbage too. Are we responsible for the latter too?”
Residents say the Dairy is going on the attack, as a form of defence. The point to the overgrown bushes, which are straddling the water pool. Madhu Agarwal says they have been, “facing the problem since one month now,” while Priya Gurnani points out to the cesspool and says, “Many of us have been staying in Venus for 40 years and more. This is the first time we have seen a problem of this magnitude,” she signs off.
A walk into the Worli Dairy showed us that marathon preparations have begun. Portable toilets for athletes were already parked at the Dairy quite close to the swamp. There was strong stench arising from the water and the debris. Yet, even as we arrived, efforts were on to clean it with a BMC vehicle also on site working at cleaning up.
Water is from Venus
Worli Dairy manager Nitin Badgujar said, “The water is from the drainage pipes of Venus buildings. It is seeping into our premises. I agree that the debris is our responsibility but we will clean it, the water though is coming from Venus. Things will be spruced up in a day. We do need co-operation though for a permanent solution.”
A high ranking Dairy official who spoke on condition of anonymity stated, “There is no use threatening morchas. We have to co-operate. We have asked the residents to come here and meet us for a solution. Why send letters?”
The residents though scoff at claims of co-operation and say these are veiled references to asking them to pay for the clean up. With both sides not on the same page, with water from Venus and debris from the Dairy, the Mumbai Marathon may be only a band aid, temporary solution to a festering feud.
The Venus buildings
Venus is a complex of towers, located in Worli. It is just behind some buildings directly facing Worli Seaface and next to the Worli Dairy. Venus is divided into towers, with towers that have 13-plus floors, and smaller, squat structures known as ‘chota Venus’. Venus has seven towers, all above 13 floors. It has three ‘Chota Venus’ buildings, which are Ground plus 3 structures.
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