Pestom Sagar is a model LACG
The group will target illegal encroachments
Suparna Thombare. Chembur

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the NGO Council have crowned Pestom Sagar as a model local area citizen group (LACG) for the entire city.

The Pestom Sagar LACG was one of the first advanced locality management (ALM) to register with the NGO Council to become an LACG. (Unlike an ALM which looks after wet and dry garbage segration and road-cleaning in a neighbourhood, an LACG plays a larger civic role on the micro-level of the community.)

Dr Vijay Sangole, Pestom Sagar LACG convenor, says group will target illegal encroachments, hawker menace and garage activities on Road 6. "We were happy to learn that we have been looked upon as a model LACG."

elsewhere Vinay Somani, convener of NGO Council that worked on the LACG concept with the BMC, says Pestom Sagar LACG will set a good example for other ALMs aspiring to be LACGs. "We will make it a lead LACG for others and it will guide other groups to join the effort," he says. "Pestom Sagar's main strength has been that its residents have coordinated with the BMC and looked for creative solutions to problems instead of blaming authorities."

Pestom Sagar LACG will continue its Duttak Vasti Yojna (area adopted for maintenance) initiative in the slums. It will also reach out to more residents and raise awareness through its myriad campaigns and activities with the help of its monthly Pestom Sagar Bulletin, which was launched four months ago. "We can solve the issue at the ward level or take it further up to the municipal commissioner's level," he says. There are six LACGs registered with the NGO Council and the BMC.