Vakola residents upset by BMC ‘apathy', pool Rs 100 each to pay for work We have started removing silt. The retaining walls that are missing at certain sections will be built in October. N.N. BINDRANI, civic chief engineer for stormwater drains.........Nikhil Khedekar  Mumbai

 

TIRED OF the civic body's inefficiency, Vakola residents have decided to clean up the Vakola drain at their own expense.

The 100-metre-long drain, which is sup- posed to be 7 ft deep, is just over 6 inches deep and inundates the Santacruz (East) locality as sewage water spills over - sometimes rising as high as 6 ft - every monsoon.

Residents claim the civic body does not clean the drain and they have been forced to leave their homes and spend nights on rooftops or at civic schools. "No one cares if a citizen dies," said 39-year-old Suresh Shinde, who has been living near the Vakola drain for over two decades. "Every year, our homes get flooded."

Added another resident, Yogesh Vaidikar: "The situation during the monsoons is so bad that, in times of emergencies, neither an ambulance nor a fire brigade can reach us. We have no escape routes."

The Vakola Residents' Association (VRA), which has 110 individual members, has therefore hired 25 workers to clean the drain.

"The workers started desilting the drain on Sunday and will continue work till June 10," said VRA President Bhupender Singh. "We had to take this step as corporators for Ward 81 Dharmesh Vyas and Ward 82 Baliram Ghag have shirked their responsibility."

The workers will clean the drain from the domestic airport compound to Vakola Bridge. Each member has contributed Rs 100 to pay the workers a total of Rs 11,000 for the job.

The civic body, meanwhile, has promised the situation will improve this monsoon. "I have maintained a slope while desilting so that water flows without obstruction," said site engineer N.K. Patil.

Added civic chief engineer for stormwater drains N.N. Bindrani: "We have started removing silt. The retaining walls that are missing at certain sections will be built in October."

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