Encroachments come up on water bodies and roads even as noisy festivals drive residents over the edge
Slums gobble up a pavement at Dockyard Road. Illegal structures are a menace across the ward — they block arterial roads and even lanes leading to hospitals. Pics/Pradeep Dhivar
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Festivals bring little cheer to this ward. The noise, coupled with additional traffic congestion, pushes residents to the edge of their patience. Some 20,000-30,000 commuters alighting every day at the Byculla railway station only make matters worse. Another problem area is the mushrooming encroachments. Not only do encroachers block arterial roads — giving a new spin to peak hour rush — but also lanes leading to hospitals. Even motorists bend the rules by parking their vehicles willy-nilly. The ward is also prone to getting waterlogged during spells of heavy rain.
Emboldened encroachers: Illegal construction has mushroomed on water bodies, roads (as auto garages) and pavements (buildings). Encroachments not only hold up traffic on BA Road, Sane Guruji Marg, Nath Pai Marg and NM Joshi Marg, but are also responsible for a number of road accidents. They have also choked bylanes leading to hospitals and fire stations. Wide roads are further blocked by cars parked unauthorised. Residents allege that accidents have become the norm on congested roads.
Noisy nightmares: The ward often gets caught up in the festive mood, but decibel levels are the highest during Ganeshotsav. Residents allege that the issue of noisy festivals has been raised with ward officials time and again, but nothing has been done to tackle it. They claim that festivities also worsen traffic snarls, and not matter how early they set out, the congestion on the roads seldom abates.
Health hazards: Since the ward has a number of hilltops, low-lying areas as well as pavements along water mains and slopes get flooded during rain. Mahatma Phule Nagar, Khalipha Chawl, Sankhli Street, Bakri Adda, Nariyal Wadi, Bhandarwada, Transit Camp, Tank Pakhadi, Mominpura, Hans Road, Wadi, Anandrao Vakil Chawl, Undriya Street and Water Galli are the most vulnerable spots. Poor garbage disposal is another menace. Leftover vegetables are strewn across the Byculla market. The mounds of waste attract stray cattle and continue to rot after spells of rain.
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