Maharashtra polls; Residents' wishlist for a better Andheri

With a week to go for the Maharashtra Assembly elections Andheri residents have come up with their own manifesto of what they want for their area and handed it over to candidates From a pending post office to waste management water contamination and a missing fire station the 11point manifesto details points across Andheri East and West highlighting various amenities that are required the lacunae of services and what could be done to improve the regionThe key candidates contesting in Versova constituency no 165 include Bharati Lavekar from the BJP Haroon Khan from Sena UBT and Sandesh Desai from the MNSldquoWe have categorised it into 11 points including public infra sewage and sanitation fire safety post office Lokhandwala Lake dredging environmental issues Metro issues water contamination waste management and even the changing demographics and topographyrdquo Dhaval Shah citizen activist and cofounder of the LokhandwalaOshiwara Citizens Association LOCA saidDredging of Lokhandwala Lake is one of the points highlighted File picldquoUnder public infrastructure of roads and bridges work on the Thackeray flyover extension the Yari Road to SVP Nagar bridge Versova to Madh bridge the Mrinal Tai Gore Flyover extension and the VersovaBandra Sea Link have been underway We need a timeline for each project so that citizens know what is lagging behind Also it should be mandatory that all new cement concrete roads should have utility ducts so frequent digging isnrsquot required As for sewage and sanitation work on the Mogra Nullah Pumping Station has been stuck for decadesrdquo the manifesto elaboratesldquoA DP reservation for fire brigade has been there since 1991 and it should become a reality soon as the number of high rises is Increasing and a large spate of redevelopment is happening further Increasing the number of residents and fire risks Also there is a post office plot reserved at Oshiwara since 1980 Work is yet to start It is causing a lot of inconvenience to senior citizens forcing them to commute all the way to Azad Nagar for small workrdquo the manifesto addsldquoAs far as the environment is concerned there are multiple issues including mangroves coming under attack at Yari Road causing erosion of green cover with slums encroaching on the land Other issues include dredging of the Lokhandwala Lake and the removal of the Lokhandwala Transit Dumpyard The public transport issue is also becoming serious We need highcapacity doubledeck bus services in the entire constituency to clear the rush of passengers Also acquisition of Metro 1 which is overburdened with rising commuters of Line 2A 7 amp 3 needs to be speeded up and the coaches increased from 4 to 6 on a war footing Also now that a R400 crore jey is coming up at Versova water transportation to south Mumbai should be exploredrdquo it addedFurther the manifesto speaks of water supply issues with increasing dependency on tankers and the issue of water contamination which needs to be addressed ldquoWaste management is another issue Local hotspots include Heera Panna Mall Dheeraj Gaurav Heights and 1st Cross outside Dominos Yari Road which need to be tacked first Other issues include hawkers taking over the road and traffic jamsrdquo it elaboratedThe other points in the manifesto include getting a large public hospital in the constituency as Cooper hospital is overburdened With changing demographics and topography a large spate of redevelopments is leading to the deterioration of road infrastructure dust and noise pollution For this setback areas need to be taken from redeveloped societies so that utilities and roads can be widenedldquoWe are handing over our manifesto to candidates this week at public rallies to pinpoint the issues that our constituency is facingrdquo Shah said11No of points listed in manifestoPublic infrastructureDust noise pollutionSewage and sanitationFire safetyPost officeLokhandwala Lake dredgingEnvironmental issuesMetro issuesWater contaminationWaste managementChanging demographics and topography