Mumbai: Coastal Road threatens toilet block at Breach Candy

Breach Candy residents are fearful about how the Coastal Road is going to impact their lives A motherson duo frets about the prospect of the road taking away a chunk of their livelihood Shankar Mane 35 and his mother Shantabai Y Mane manage a public toilet block adjacent to Tata Garden at Breach CandyThis toilet complex is located between Tata Garden and the Scandal Point parking lot The Scandal Point space is currently taken over by cabins that serve as offices for engineers and workers of the Coastal Road projectShankar Mane and his mother Shantabai manage a public toiletReal fearsWe fear that the Coastal Road will cut through this place and the toilet complex which opened in June 2018 will be demolished said the motherson pair The Manes constructed the block at a cost of R30 lakh We have invested savings and also taken a loan what will we do if the block is broken or gone altogether they asked The complex has a plaque citing date of opening as June 6 2018 and expresses thanks to a slew of Dward officials including current ward officer V P Mote The opening was done by MLA Mangal Prabhat LodhaLegit concernThe Manes concerns are legitimate considering the Coastal Road is already going to take away a part of the Tata Garden Shankar who also works in the DWard office as a sweeper stated We charge R2 for the urinals R5 for the toilet and Rs 20 for the shower facilityAs this reporter was speaking to Shankar several people walked in to use the toilets paying Shankar as they exited This is highly frequented as there is no other public toilet in the vicinity said Dr Nilesh Baxi a regular at Tata Garden and founder of Breach Candy Welfare GroupUncertain fateShantabai was at her home in Dharavi battling low blood pressure She said My health is affected because of the uncertainty My son has been told by engineers working next to the site that at least half the block will be broken We started this as an opportunity to earn Why isnt the plan being explained to those who may be affected We are not being informed about the compensation if any eitherDr Baxi said At least half this toilet block will be taken away I think We have been repeatedly requesting BMC officials to come here for a site visit but there has been no responseShankar said The toilet was started in 2018 and completed in 55 months Permissions were taken a year before that The Coastal Road plans were already on the table at the time so why were permissions given for it at allM Machiwal chief engineer of the Coastal Road said I do not know if the toilet block will be affected I cannot tell you now I will check and let you know Dward officer V P Mote said The block is not going to be affected immediately We will in fact try our best to avoid any disruption or breaking of this sanitation facilityCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates