Fed up with the BMC's apathy, residents of Chheda Nagar in Chembur decided to take matters into their own hands to fix their terrible internal roads. On Tuesday, work began in sector 6 of the housing colony. The repairs, running into Rs 5.50 lakh, have been fully funded by residents of the housing societies in the area, who have also hired a private road contractor for the work.

The roads in Chheda Nagar connect 110 residential buildings in 62 housing societies. The area houses 7,000 residents. Miffed with the BMC's M-West ward stating that they cannot provide any assistance for the repairs because the land is private and under litigation, the residents have decided to make the repairs happen out of their own pockets. While the funds for the project were collected three weeks ago, the repairs began on Tuesday in Sector 6 after a puja. The local ward office is, however, being helpful by providing paver blocks — which will be used for the repairs — that have been removed by BMC across the city either in road widening or concretisation projects. To transport the blocks, residents have hired private contractors.