Mid-Day asks the Govt: Mumbai civic issues persist as commuters seek railings, skywalks and action on garbage trucks

ProblemsStaircase railing neededThank you to midday for showing concern and highlighting the issue of a broken stairway at platform No 1 Andheri Station West The same has been replaced with new stairway However the authorities have not addressed the missing link of the upper railing at the lower end of the stairway causing inconvenience to the commuterssenior citizens while climbing up or down the stairs Hope the authorities will look into it and fix additional railingChetan N MehtaRepresentation PiciStockOld rusted cars parked on roadsIt is noted with grave concern that many owners of khataras park their vehicles on the roads for months together as they know very well that there are no authorities to keep a watch on them It becomes a free parking facility to these owners without having to pay a pennyThe authorities concerned should serve notice to them to remove their cars which is not only an eye sore but also a blockage of Public place If the owners fail to adhere to the notice within the period specified therein their vehicles should be towed and action as deemed fit should be taken Penalty may also be levied on such owners of vehicles If need be they may verify the CCTV cameras as a documentary evidence This will generate additional revenue and it will serve as a warning to such owners Hope necessary action will be taken by the concerned authoritiesRavi D BaligaSkywalk urgently neededThere is a need for the authorities concerned to construct a skywalk from Ramabai Nagar near Eastern Express Highway at Ghatkopar East to Sarvodaya Hospital near LBS Road at Ghatkopar West for the convenience of the residents of these areas mainly students and workers who walk this distance dailyCajetan Peter DrsquoSouzaFile picOpen garbage trucksI had around three weeks back pointed out that the dumpers contracted by the BMC carry the garbage openly It is not only an eyesore but the stink emanating from openly carrying the garbage is unbearable Especially for those vehicles forced to halt next their vehicles behind the dumpers near signalsThe department concerned of the BMC should pass a General Resolution issuing orders to the drivers to close the dumpers after the garbage is loaded When the Compacting System is available in the dumpers what is preventing the drivers from using the available facilityLet us hope for a stench free atmosphere on the public place so that the public can walk and drive comfortablyRavi D BaligaResponsesAlso read MidDay asks the Govt Agarbazar seniors seek slope to access high footpathAfter Mumbaikars sent in their questions and woes to midday last Monday some of the authorities concerned responded We havenrsquot given up on the rest We shall continue to hold authorities accountable for the state of the cityShoddy work by BMC contractorsReader Ravi D BaligaBMC responds ldquoWe already have such policies in place under which a percentage of the contract amount is released only after the project work is found satisfactory by officials The percentage is generally 5 per cent and in the case of mega CC roads itrsquos 20 per cent Further we are also implementing penal action whenever some work is found to be shoddy mdash BMC doesnrsquot pay for that work the contractor has to redo it and they also pay a penalty amount equal to the cost of the shoddy workrdquo stated a senior civic officialSkywalk in darknessReader Warren PereiraBMC responds midday had highlighted the issue to ward officials previously This time midday has escalated your grievance to the elected public representative of the area who is also the Ward Committeersquos Chairman Mansi SatamkarSatamkar said ldquoI will review the grievance and ask the officials concerned why the issue is still persistent The issue will be resolvedrdquoPicMukesh DesaiBroken gutter lineReader Mukesh DesaiBMC responds ldquoThe footpath work was done during the Metro construction work in the area We received the complaint in July and conveyed it to the metro contractor The contractor has told us that they will start with the necessary repairs on October 12rdquo stated a civic officialFootpath is too highReader Sugandha KarapurkarBMC responds The easy access ramps for any footpath are provided mostly around the zebra crossings As a norm we avoid making the ramps at multiple spots to deter vehicles from entering footpathsVehicles on footpaths is already an issue we are tackling in the area We have nevertheless noted the issue and shall inspect if something can be done at a specific spotrdquo stated a civic official