Mumbai: 40,000 Malwani residents to boycott Lok Sabha elections

Insects in the water pipe inside a home in the area. Pics/Samiullah Khan

Forty-thousand residents of MHADA Colony in Malwani have threatened to boycott the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, frustrated with authorities' inaction over issues of contaminated water, bad roads and traffic snarls. The residents said they are fed-up of complaining to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and local representatives about their issues for years.

The colony has more than 50 buildings and 150 row house societies (one society has 30 homes), housing around 40,000 residents. "Our biggest issue is contaminated water. The water we get in our taps has dirt and insects," said Sonal Somaiyya. "I took up the issue with local bodies, but they did not bother to respond.

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Society members have said they will put up banners announcing the boycott of the Lok Sabha elections and bar politicians from entering their societies

I then tried to meet BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta and wrote several emails and made calls for an appointment. I have yet to get a response from him," she added. "Every year, hundreds of children here get ill because of this filthy water, and it gets worse during the monsoon. Many residents have contracted skin diseases due to the water. The P/North ward officer told us that they have limitations to their work and can't solve our issues just like that. Nobody cares about our plight," she said.

In 2014, many of the residents had decided to boycott the election, but there was no support from other residents. "We had tried to generate a consensus, but many did not feel the boycott would result in anything," said Chetan Patel, one of the residents.

"But this time, residents have decided to put up banners outside their building announcing the boycott and bar contenders from entering the premises to canvas," he said.

"Water connections here are being sold for a few hundred rupees, which damage the main lines. Local politicians and the water mafia are involved, but no one wants to take action" he said.

"Many of these illegal water lines have cropped up on the roads and are a nuisance for residents while walking," said Vishal Satoskar, a resident. "We also buy water every day as we can see that the lines reaching our houses come through a nullah. We are literally getting poison in our taps," he said.

Another issue here is the bad roads that causing terrible traffic jams. "It is just 3km from Malad station to our society, yet it takes us more than two hours to get to either destination," said Ibrahim Sheikh, an estate broker.

S V Kore, sub-engineer of P/North ward said, "The problems faced by residents are genuine. But, BMC has been tirelessly working on the issues. Water lines are damaged at many places, especially between Lagoon Road and Gaikwad Nagar depot, which is causing the water contamination. We have completed 20% of the work, and are in the process of completing the rest of it."

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