Mumbai: Powai slum dwellers risk lives to use loo; Here's why

The dilapidated bridges railings washed away during the heavy rains on August 29 PicSayyed Sameer AbediImagine praying hard on the way to the toilet just because the path to it is so dangerous that you could seriously injure yourself or lose your life But over 4000 residents of Jay Bhim Nagar in Powai are doing just that Every day they have to cross a dilapidated and narrow foot over bridge FOB simply to use the toilets across it What makes the situation worse is that they also have to use the FOB to move out of their slum into the cityIn three years Jay Bhim Nagars only connecting link to the city towards Aarey Road the FOB over the Mithi River has turned dangerous The FOB was constructed over 10 years back to give proper access to residents of Jay Bhim Nagar as well as Gautam Nagar to the nearest service roadAlso readBrothers in Amethi gift their sisters a unique gift this Raksha BandhanNo work despite contractA resident and local activist Pawan Pal said three years back the civic body had awarded a contract to reconstruct the FOB but nothing happened According to documents accessed by Pal on December 31 2014 a contract was awarded to Dev Engineers to reconstruct two FOBs over the Mithi River in Morarji Nagar and Jay Bhim Nagar at the cost of R138 crore for both FOBs The work was supposed to finish in one year The civic body finished reconstructing the Morarji Nagar FOB but the one at Jay Bhim Nagar continues to be dilapidatedPal said The FOB is in an extremely dilapidated condition During heavy rains water flows over the bridge making it very difficult for pedestrians to use it Hundreds of people including children risk their life everyday when using the FOB When I followed up with the matter I got to know that Bridge Department officials have written a letter to the local ward informing it about the dangerous condition of the FOB and suggested it be closedHe added The internal communication between the Bridge Department and S ward Bhandup has revealed that the reconstruction of the FOB is pending due to non availability of space since there is encroachment it will be widened The encroachment happened because civic body delayed the repair workAlso readMumbai BMC sends mobile toilets to Powai but forgets to unlock themNo access roadAfter Pal lodged a complaint with the Prime Ministers Office about the delay in reconstruction of the FOB the Bridge Department in its reply on July 21 2017 explained that work has not started due to nonavailability of an access road to the site due to encroachment along the Mithi River The encroachment needs to be removed by S wardAccording to the residents BMC is to be blamed for the encroachment A resident Mashuk Khan 52 alleged Till 2015 there was no encroachment on the site and BMC could have started work But they delayed it and in next one year about 100 illegal slums came upKhan added Many times when children go to school their clothes get wet During the night it is even dangerous to walk on this FOB as there is no proper safety railingAnother resident Santosh Jha said This FOB is used to go to toilets constructed on the other side of the Mithi River Recently during the heavy rain a lady slipped on the steps of the FOB and injured her handPal has made an application June 6 with the Powai Police seeking to register an FIR against the civic officials over alleged negligence by not reconstructing the FOBAlso readPowai resident get death threats by Shiv Sena leaders for complaining about poor sanitationThe other sideOn being contacted Assistant Municipal Commissioner of S Ward Santosh Dhonde asked this reporter to speak to someone from the Bridge DepartmentChief Engineer of the Bridge Department S O Kori said The work of reconstruction of the FOB will start soon There is some encroachment because of which work was delayed From October demolition of encroachments will start and within 15 days it will be complete After it we will start work on the FOB