Mumbai: Colaba Causeway’s clean sweep unsurprising

It was seeing is believing or disbelieving for Colaba locals The Causeway shopping strip in the area flooded with hawkers some legal and several illegal was all cleaned out on Monday The Monday miracle happened for PM Narendra Modirsquos visit for the Reserve Bank of Indiarsquos 90th anniversary claimed most residentsItrsquos typicalColaba locals long inured to the pedestrian pathway overrun with hawkers and wares spilling out of boxes and stands were not surprised as this they said followed a pattern The streets and footpaths are bereft of encroachment and obstruction for VIP visits and the day after usually there is a boomerang effect when things go back to what they wereSaid Colabarsquos Pervez Cooper ldquoColaba Causeway footpath looks beautiful without encroachments People can walk freely without being pushed or hassled These legalillegal encroachments should be moved to an alternate site and regulated and there will be several upsides Firstly traffic will ease on this road noise pollution and the doubleparking menace will dip Most of all though children and seniors will be able to walk on the Causeway which is certainly not the case nowrdquo Cooper added sarcastically ldquoI certainly hope the Prime Minister visits Colaba every single dayrdquoHawker normsRajiv Daryanani longtime Colaba resident stated that the area he has been brought up in has gone south ldquoIt has gone from bad to worse to intolerablerdquo he said Daryanani said ldquoA speed breaker was being removed for a VVIP visit and the noise did not let people sleep I was on a walk and was reassured that the work would be over and the noise subsides by early at night The work went on past 2 amrdquo he said ldquoI hope that people especially senior citizens can walk without obstruction posed by hawkers and buyers most of them who do not even live in the area We also have the scenario of hawkers leasing out their pitches flouting hawker normsrdquoHaresh Hathiramani a Colaba Residents and Shopkeepers Association CRSA member said this was not surprising He said ldquoThis is usual with VIP movement It is all spick lsquonrsquo span only to return to status quo once the dignitary leaves Why clear encroachments at all if the area is to go back to the way it wasrdquo he askedOnce againSubhash Motwani president Clean Heritage Colaba Residentsrsquo Association CHCRA said ldquoIt has happened again Our PM who coincidentally is a senior citizen as well like many residents of Colaba was going to just pass through Colaba Causeway and the entire Causeway was lsquoencroachment freersquo yet again How we wish the same intent is shown when citizensrsquo associations of Colaba take our plea of having an encroachmentfree Causeway to authorities All our requests and pleas usually fall on deaf ears The encroachments sadly will be back once the PM is gonerdquo Motwani added that he wished ldquothe PMrsquos office took heed of this and took to task the hawkerrsquos mafiardquo On the macro picture Motwani stated this is symptomatic of how ldquoColaba Causeway has disintegrated from being the prime walkable area for locals and tourists alike to one of the most congested areas leading to excess traffic noise pollution posing a risk of lives of citizens who are compelled to walk on the road due to encroachments all under the blessings of authorities who follow different guidelines for VIP amp ministers and different guidelines for the common manrdquo Just like Cooper Motwani too said ldquoThis is a request to our PM if you canrsquot clear them then do ensure a VIP passes Colaba Causeway daily so that there is a permanent end to this menacerdquo90thAnniversary of RBI