In another gaffe, more than 20 boards erected by the civic body inside the iconic Dadar colony have Wadala listed as the area name; BMC officials say they will change the signs soon
Continuing in its series of mixing up area names, the BMC seems to have forgotten where the iconic Dadar Parsi Colony is situated. Their folly has become evident in the form of roadside signage along several places inside the colony that proclaims the area’s name as Wadala instead of Dadar.
One of the signboards inside Dadar Parsi Colony, which wrongly lists the area as Wadala. Pic/Tushar Satam
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The local ward official has agreed that this is indeed a mistake, and has assured that work to replace the signs is underway. mid-day had highlighted in the past, how signboards in Andheri and Vile Parle were marked as Juhu. Soon after the report, the civic body had changed them to show the correct area.
Now, a similar thing has happened in Dadar’s Parsi Colony where, in more than 20 places, the roads were marked as Wadala instead of Dadar. While the street’s name was correct, the area had been wrongly marked as Wadala.
For example, on the Ardheshir S Homa Vazir Road, the area has been marked Wadala while other nearby roads bear Dadar as the location. Similarly, a signboard just outside the Dadar Parsi Youth Assembly School is marked as Wadala as well.
Not the first time
Local activist Nikhil Desai, who has been pursuing the matter said, “These are only a few instances. About 3 months ago, I had counted 24 signboards stating Wadala for areas that actually lie in Dadar. I kept pursuing the matter with the ward, after which some of the signs were changed.” Desai has also written to the deputy municipal commissioner highlighting the civic body’s mistake.
Desai added, “Initially, the ward office would say that the work has been done by the central agency, which is the BMC’s traffic department. When I pursued the matter with that department, they told me that the list of names was actually submitted by the ward office itself and they merely erected the boards. Things came back to square one.”
Interestingly, signboards that have been marked with Wadala as the area in the colony are a stone’s throw from those bearing the name Dadar. Also, a couple of roads have three signboards at a distance of every few metres. “One board costs Rs 20,000. Why do they need to spend thrice the amount on the same road?” asked Desai.
BMC speak
Confirming that the signs were a mistake, Namdeo Talpe executive engineer of F/North ward said, “Yes, the roads actually fall in Dadar. The traffic department has done the mistake but it is being rectified. The signs will be replaced soon.”
Countering this claim, B J Patel, Deputy Chief Engineer (Traffic) said, “Even if the boards are installed by our department, they were put up only after being certified by the ward. They can’t blame us because they must have verified the names.”
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