Real estate Rs 75,000 a sq foot = world’s priciest garbage dump

Money money money may be funny in a rich manrsquos world yet not many are laughing at The Malabar Apartments CoOperative Housing Society Limited on Malabar HillThe SoBo area has real estate pegged at approximately Rs 75000 to Rs 80000 a square foot which makes a huge garbage dump behind the Malabar Apartments within its vicinity one of the most expensive rubbish dumps in the worldSite frightThis building has seven floors with 18 flats on each floor housing a total of 126 flats with a garbage disposal area earmarked for the buildingrsquos collective trash There are garbage cans in the space and the buildingrsquos rubbish is collected and put into those cans like in most residential societiesMalabar Apartments has seven floors and 18 flats on each floorThe Malabar Apartments though has a different unique and exasperating problem It is located below a huge sprawl of hutments which has grown massively through the years The Simla Nagar zopadpatti is perched just above this open space and garbage from the Simla Nagar hutments above this compound is sailing down to the Malabar Apartments open area This is thrown by the Simla Nagar slum dwellers above and comes flying landing on the building premisesThe result is a fright of a site and shocking for a building in Mumbairsquos priciest pockets When this reporter visited the spot garbage was strewn all around the designated trash cans and more was being thrown from aboveWatch outAs this reporter and photographer stood at the site garbage by the hutment dwellers flew down like projectiles and one had to keep a wary eye in case it fell on heads The security repeatedly cited cautionResidents said bottles sometimes wrapped in plastic bags furniture building material debris and everything possible lands here Sometimes the hutment dwellers do aim for garbage cans but frequently miss them The entire ground is litteredrdquo We saw three cars parked to one side of the site with the residents stating that ldquocar windshields have cracked at times Owners have to negotiate the mess to get into their cars keeping a wary eye to avoid getting hit or splattered by something foulrdquoThe residents stated that 10 years ago ldquoWe even had a funnel a chute that was installed from above so that hutment dwellers could put their garbage and it emptied into garbage cans straight below That funnel was choked as hutment dwellers were pushing broken furniture through it A sofa was pushed down the chute to deposit as garbage The chute was blocked and then broke in some places Eventually the chute was removedrdquoThen a boundary wall was made along the hutments to stop garbage from being thrown over but this too in vain as garbage is still tossed over the wall A resident pointed to small structures that have come up along the boundary wall too A resident said ldquoThere is wastewater too from pipes there emptying into the Malabar Apartments compoundrdquo A stench emanated from the site and the ground was slick with the water Since there was moss around one could slip and fall as some residents claim had happenedHealth hazardWhen we were at the spot a rat or two was spotted scurrying around the ground Security personnel stated ldquoWe have to do rat treatment very oftenrdquo and mosquitoes buzzed The entire space is a health hazardA resident pointed out ldquoOur staff has to access this spot for throwing our garbage in the bins They then walk through the building in the same footwear that has trampled through waste water Imagine the many monsoons here it is a nightmare At a time of deep cleaning of the city this rubbish bin continues to overflow We have written so many letters to authorities and there have been efforts by the BMC to clean up yet it does not solve the problem We need a permanent solution This has persisted because it is not immediately visible to passersby it is out of sight as it is tucked away behind the buildingrdquoIt is conveniently ldquoinvisiblerdquo stated irate locals who raged that if this had happened within immediate eye view in the front of the building ldquoit would never have been allowed to continuerdquoEnd thisSome correspondence dates back to 20122013 about the installation of the chute and dismantling of the chute thereafter pointing to the longstanding problemThere is a letter addressed to the municipal authorities in 2013 with a sketch of the proposed chute Then letters in March 2020 cite numerous previous correspondence and excerpts from the communication state lsquoWe would once again like to draw your attention to the dangerous and unhygienic conditions created by nonstop dumping of garbage from Simla Nagar zopadpatti residentsrsquo It said a regular cleanup by bringing in dumper trucks and a JCB is neededAs recently as February 9 a resident showed pictures of the overflowing garbage and tweeted lsquoDeep cleaning What does that even mean mybmc plans to launch this on Saturday See these pix An unattended garbage dump near Simla Nagar Malabar Hill Despite appeals from residents no sign of any cleaning leave alone lsquodeeprsquoThe BMC did attend to the tweet complaint a few days later and did say to this reporter that the complaint was being attended to Vehicles men and machines were sent to clean up and they did but residents say these are ldquostopgap measuresrdquo as the garbage game restarts after trucks clear out the accumulated rubbishldquoIn Juhu work is in progress at 54 construction sites Of these work is being finished at 20 The remaining 34 sites are under MHADA and IR showcause notices have been issued by this office regarding noncompliance with air pollution guidelines by developers However Juhu and Vile Parle Westrsquos AQI has been under control below 100 for a weekrdquo said Dr Prithviraj Chauhan assistant commissioner K West ward