Mini Mumbai straddles best and worst of east and west

The Mumbai North Central constituency covers the western as well as eastern suburbs The belt from Bandra to Vile Parle which is in the Western parts of the city is known for celebrity homes and upperclass residential areas as well as the topmost commercial complex BKC while Kurla Kalina Chembur and Chandivli are majorly slum belt areas The redevelopment of old buildings by various government authorities is a major issue in the constituency The redevelopment of slum pockets is also a crucial issue due to the space crunch and skyrocketing prices of landResettlement and development issues in areas including the Air India Colony railway properties Government Colony and Defence Colony require urgent attention But the election is not limited to local issues like improvement of infrastructure including Metro and local rail services Nationwide issues like reservation religion and employment are also in focusThe Behrampada area in Bandra East has illegal fivestorey shantiesAs per official data the area has a major Marathi population along with Muslim pockets There is also a mixture of Gujarati Marwadi North and South Indians The constituency has around 17 lakh voters and the voter turnout remained below 50 per cent in the last two elections The BJP candidate won the past two elections Out of six assembly segments two each were won by BJP and Shiv Sena and the remaining two were won by UBT Sena and Congress respectively in the 2019 election This time the BJP and Sena Shinde have given a candidacy to public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam Varsha Gaikwad who is the Congress candidate for the constituency is backed by Sena UBT Both sides declared their candidates just a few days before filing the nominationAssembly segmentsChandivli The suburb has experienced a high rate of construction of residential and commercial towers in slumdense pockets without improvement of infrastructure ldquoThe fight of Chandivli residents for the construction of lsquo90 Feet Roadrsquo as per the Development Plan of Mumbai gathered attentionrdquo said Anil Solakar a residentAnother resident Dr Neeraj Tulara added ldquoApart from that air pollution from illegal bhattis and readymix cement plants is the major issue of ChandivlirdquoSandeep Kadam Kurla resident Anil Solakar Chandivli resident Debasish Chakraverty ALM memberThe residents have been also raising the issue of illegal hoardings since last year which went unnoticed by the authorities till now Dilip Lande from Shiv Sena won the Assembly seat in 2019 The two Assembly elections before that were won by Congress candidate Naseem KhanKurla It is one of the most densely populated areas of the city which makes redevelopment a challenge The underdeveloped area faces several issues from open dumping of garbage and a choked drainage system to a lack of health and education infrastructure ldquoThe narrow roads and hawkerencroached footpaths are a nightmare for pedestrians and motorists The road connecting Tilak Nagar to Sion is still not complete The crime rate is also high with housebreaking as well as pickpocketingrdquo said Sandeep Kadam a retired employee with the Railway and a resident of KurlaIllegal parking of heavy vehicles like trucks and buses near residential areas is also creating congestion Mangesh Kudalkar won the past two Assembly elections from the constituencyKalina The area is known for the Mumbai University fivestar hotels defence land and large slum pockets at Vakola It connects to Santacruz railway station on the Western Line and Kurla railway station on the Central Line An expansion plan of the airport that needed the demolition of 20 vacant buildings in the Air India Colony invited strong protests by Air India employees residing in the colony Sanjay Potnis from Sena UBT won the last two Assembly elections from the constituencyVile Parle It is a sophisticated area with an uppermiddle class population A major issue here is the redevelopment of nearly 6000 buildings that are over 30 years old adjoining the airport in Vile Parle Santa Cruz Kurla and Ghatkopar which are in the airport funnel zone The redevelopment has been stuck due to height restrictions in the funnel zone Parag Alawani from BJP won the last two Assembly electionsBandra East It comprises the topmost commercial area the Bandra Kurla Complex BKC but thousands of people working here face connectivity issues which also add traffic woes for local residents The areas outside Bandra East lack proper management of public transport Behrampada an area with four to fivestorey illegal shanties is still awaiting redevelopment The redevelopment of the Government Colony is also a longpending issue in the area Illuminated hoardings on the highway and road connecting to the Bandra Worli Sea Link pose challenges to motorists Zeeshan Siddiqui from Congress won the seat in 2019 Before that the Assembly seat was with the Shiv SenaBandra West Traffic jams along with unauthorised hawkers and markets are major issues in the Bandra to Santacruz belt ldquoThere isnrsquot any connection with our past MP Poonam Mahajan for the last 10 years Dugup roads that are left unattended is a big risk to residents of Bandra Illegal hawkers are flourishing at Linking Road and there isnrsquot any action by authoritiesrdquo said Rohinton Polishwala a resident of Hill Road in Bandra WestldquoIn August 2014 a study found Santacruz to be Indiarsquos most affluent locality by pin code Today infrastructurally Santacruz is in miserable conditionhellip the roads resemble a war zone and the garbage pileup is apocalyptical The area has been ignored for too long and has deteriorated immenselyrdquo said Debasish Chakraverty an ALM member Ashish Shelar from BJP won the Assembly seat for the last two elections17 LApprox no of voters in constituency