BMC makes Kalina residents stumble through craters

Locals complain of civic body's apathy in repairing the arterial St Anthony's Street that connects Kalina to Vakola; say it was hollowed out 10 days ago

BMC makes Kalina residents stumble through craters

For the past 10 days, Kalina residents have been greatly inconvenienced by the slow pace of road repairs being carried out by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on the arterial St Anthony’s Street, which connects Kalina to Vakola.

Where is the road? Pedestrians and motorists on the arterialu00a0St Anthony’s Street, which locals say has been dug-up for the last 10 days

Locals said more than 200 metres of the kilometre-long street that was dug up 10 days ago has rendered the stretch useless for pedestrians and motorists alike.

The worst affected are residents of Shreyas building, MES Colony and Mathradas Colony, as the buildings are located on either side of the road.

Some of the inhabitants said several accidents took place on the road when motorists tried to use it. They also said the mindless digging damaged water pipelines and telephone cables, resulting in water cuts and dead landline phones for a couple of days. They even accused the civic body of not taking proper precautions and putting up signboards to warn pedestrians and motorists about the ongoing work.

Some of the motorists from Kadamwadi said they had to take a detour from Vakola to reach Kalina via the main road, which was a waste of time.
Mary D’souza, a resident, said, “This not the way one executes civic work. It’s been ten days and it appears that they (BMC) haven’t done anything so far. Senior citizens from the area have been hassled.”

Another local, Ricky Valladares, seconded D’souza’s opinion. “I’ve stopped using my motorbike, as I‘m afraid that I’ll meet with an accident and hurt myself or others because of the bumpy ride. Be it day or night, there was no one whom you can approach and speak to about the pathetic condition of the road. Since the university is close by, several students usually take this arterial route. But now they are forced to take the main road, which is a longer route,” he said.

Officialspeak
MD Pimpale, assistant municipal commissioner (H/east ward), said, “I was not aware of this issue. But now that it has been brought to my notice, I will look into the matter personally and resolve it soon.” u00a0

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