Mazagaon apartment gate blocks footpath, forces schoolchildren onto busy road

Prabat Apartments at Mazagaon. Pics/Ashish Raje

An apartment complex's open gate at the junction of Dockyard Road and Gunpowder Road in Mazagaon has made the footpath inaccessible, forcing the kids who attend a nearby school and the elderly who come to pick them up to walk on the road, which sees heavy traffic throughout the day.

The gate in question opens up and blocks the entire width of the footpath, creating a barrier between the entrance of the building and the bank next door, in front of which visitors park their vehicles on the footpath. When this reporter visited the area on Monday evening, it was seen that kids leaving school had to manoeuvre around the parked vehicles at the bank and then the open gate to get to the footpath.

Bikes of bank visitors parked on the footpath, further obstructing it

Issue flagged

mid-day reader Cherag Driver, under the ‘Dear Govt' section (published every Monday), brought the issue to the paper saying, "The gate of Prabat Apartments at Sardar Balwantsingh (Dockyard Road) and Gunpowder Road at Mazagaon opens towards the pavement, blocking it. This is dangerous for pedestrians, mostly seniors citizen and schoolchildren."

No response

This reporter tried to approach the committee members and residents of the apartment complex, but the security guard did not provide any contact details for the respective individuals.

Local Speak

Cherag Driver, 80, local resident
‘I had once before requested them profusely, after which they kept the gate open towards the inside of their property, but just the next day it was back to the same situation. This is a major issue because there is a kindergarten in the next lane, and a few other schools within walking distance.'

A senior citizen
‘I pick my grandson up daily, and every day I check to see when is the right time to cross this stretch of the road as heavy vehicles drive by very often. I have on multiple occasions told the traffic police in the area about the issue. They get the issue resolved, but the problem persists.'

Naim Ahmed, local fruit seller
‘People just navigate around it, and no accidents or untoward incidents have happened here so far due to the gate. The only reason we saw accidents here was due to a drain lid on the road which was making people skid a little till a few months ago. But now all seems okay.'