Apart from dealing with traffic woes, encroached footpaths, waterlogging problems, people want infra projects completed soon
Water logging due to heavy rain at Veera Desai Road, Andheri West. Pic/Anurag Ahire
The fight in the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency, which falls in the western suburbs, is between the Shiv Sena Eknath Shinde faction and Mahayuti candidate Ravindra Waikar versus the Maha Vikad Aghadi (MVA) and Shiv Sena UBT candidate Amol Kirtikar. People living in this constituency have expressed the desire for an MP who would complete pending infrastructure projects and address issues of traffic, encroached footpaths, prevent further encroachments and tackle the water logging problem faced by some low-lying areas in the constituency.
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Mumbai North West
The Mumbai North West constituency comprises a mix of demographics and is one of the crucial Lok Sabha constituencies in Mumbai. Areas that fall under this constituency include several slum pockets in Andheri East and Andheri West, slum pockets at Behram Baug in Oshiwara, slum pockets in Jogeshwari East, slums and tribal hamlets in Aarey Milk Colony, slum pockets in Goregaon East and Goregaon West areas. The constituency also has voters in posh and up-market localities including Lokhandwala, Four Bungalows and Seven Bungalows, Versova, Shashtri Nagar in Andheri West, posh localities along JVLR near Jogeshwari, and Goregaon East and West.
Hawkers occupying a footpath near the station in Andheri West. Pic/Nimesh Dave
Total voters
There are 17,25,263 registered voters in this constituency, of which male are 9,32,908 are male, 7,92,148 female voters and 60 are third gender.
Six assembly segments
The six assembly segments in the Mumbai North West constituency include Andheri West, Versova, Andheri East, Jogeshwari East, Dindoshi and Goregaon assembly segments. Andheri West, Versova and Goregaon have a BJP MLA, Andheri East and Dindoshi have Shiv Sena UBT MLA and the Jogeshwari has a Shinde faction MLA who is now also contesting election as the party candidate for Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency.
Lok Sabha 2019
The current sitting MP from the constituency is Gajanan Kirtikar of Shiv Sena (Shinde). In 2019, Kirtikar secured 5,70,063 votes and won by a lead of 2,60,328 votes. Sanjay Nirupam who contested on a Congress ticket secured 3,09,735 votes and the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi candidate emerged third with 23,422 votes. Since 1996, Shiv Sena has won this seat four times and the Congress has won thrice. Manasi Warde, a wildlife lover said, “I feel an MP should work for the protection of wildlife and the environment.
Traffic jam at Amboli Junction. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Illegal encroachments and huts coming up in Aarey Milk Colony need to stop. Other important issues include the bad condition of roads, illegal parking on roads, encroachments on footpaths and the completion of the infrastructure-related works. The work of the construction of the arm of Mrinal Tai Gore Flyover passing over S V Road / Oshiwara River and landing on Relief Road has been pending for a long time and this needs to be taken up as a priority, as it will result in better east-west connectivity.”
According to Preeti Dubey, a housewife, there has been inflation in the last 10 years but people’s income has decreased and this has impacted everyone’s life. “There has been an increase in gas prices too. I would want the MP to raise these issues in the parliament. We also need better health facilities in Mumbai North West constituency and for that, the government should make hospitals which have state-of-the-art facilities,” she said.
Preeti Dubey, homemaker
Vipul Mane, a businessman said, “The constituency has several issues and we want the MP to first concentrate on making our roads better, identify water logging areas and solve these issues. In our constituency, be it on the east or west side of the railway line, there are a lot of illegal hawkers and making the area surrounding the stations hawking-free should be a priority. We also need better health facilities and hospitals for the poor and so the same should also be on the agenda of the MP.”
Issues in the six assembly segments
Andheri West: The major issue is traffic jams that take place during morning and evening peak hours near the station area. The people staying in the area feel that authorities need to make the station area free of hawkers and encroachments on footpaths.
Versova: A large portion of this segment is a coastal area and the gaothan and the Kolis in the area have been talking about the issues related to development. Another issue is the destruction of the mangrove cover in Versova, Lokhandwala belt, and environmentalists and nature lovers have been demanding measures to protect the mangroves. The water logging problem in the Veera Desai and Amboli areas needs to be addressed and the redevelopment of the MHADA societies is also something people are talking about.
Manasi Warde, wildlife lover
Andheri East: Traffic jams on the Andheri Ghatkopar link road and the footpaths have been encroached upon by the hawkers and stalls are issues here. Local residents feel that the ongoing Metro 3 work should be completed at the earliest. The redevelopment of slums, better roads and better health facilities is what people want.
Jogeshwari East: One of the most important issues is the redevelopment of slums along Jogeshwari–Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR). Locals also feel that completion of the ongoing infrastructure projects, including the Swami Samarth Nagar to Vikroli Metro line that passes through this constituency along the flyover need to be completed on a priority basis.
Aarey Milk Colony: Cattle farm owners, people staying in tribal hamlets and also in slum pockets have been demanding that the area needs better road infrastructure as the 45-km-long internal road in Aarey is in bad condition.
Dindoshi: People have been demanding better roads and the completion of infrastructure projects like the Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR). The redevelopment of slum pockets, traffic jams and parking-related issues are something people want the elected MP to address.
Goregaon: There are several ongoing infrastructure-related works including the extension of the Mrinal Tai Gore Flyover arm that will connect to Relief Road. The people staying in this constituency want work on the bridge passing over Oshiwara River on S V Road completed, which has been pending for years. People also want the MP to resolve the issues of traffic jams, bad internal roads and encroachments on footpaths.
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