Sunday, May 16, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
Toxic fumes from Deonar Dump killing many in Ghatkopar & Chembur
The BMC planned the closure of the ground more than a decade after the Smoke Affected Residents Forum (SARF) moved court against the BMC for not curbing the menace of the dumping ground.
When the BMC failed to comply with the court's directives, SARF, in 2008, filed a contempt case against the civic chief, calling the dumping ground's continued existence a violation of human rights.
The Deonar dumping ground singly accommodates the entire waste of Mumbai and has already exceeded its limit, especially after two other dumping grounds were recently shut down also for being overburdened.
A stunning 8000 tonnes of waste is brought to the Deonar dumping ground everyday — that's the entire volume of waste that Mumbai generates in a day.
Dr Neelam Rane who is also a resident at Chembur says, "It's been 13 long years and the BMC have not followed its affidavit, they have done nothing."
Dr. Kumar Doshi ENT specialist who reside in Garodia Nagar and practices in Ghatkopar says that " cases of Asthma, Bronchitis, COPD has seen such an upsurge that even the text books of medicines don't show such a rapid rise, we are seeing so many cases, and now we are seeing fatalities, every winter if you just see the BMC dead registry and you will see more and more deaths due to respiratory causes".
Watch the 2008 NDTV news clip on the protests by the SARF to shut the dumping ground.
Both the bureaucrats and elected representatives are responsible for playing with citizens’ lives , the recently elected MP Sanjay Dina Patil had promised that he will ensure the timely and systematic closure of the site, but like all election gimmicks nothing much has been achieved.
We the residents of Chembur , Ghatkopar & those effected area are to be blamed more for this mess, as Dr. Sandeep Rane says " the residents want to suffer, dont' want to take action or come together for the cause, all they do is talk in some hushed manner & go home".
Honestly this is the fact, residents have to unite & stand up against the BMC & government. Take the case of two other dumping grounds at Malad and Gorai that were shut down 3 years ago long after exceeding their capacity and after some strong protests from the residents there.
The TOXIC fumes are slowly killing the new born, i personally know 3 kids who are suffering from sever asthma and many more residents from respiratory problems.
Request all the residents to come together to fight this menace and also help by practising proper Dry Wet garbage disposal methods.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Delayed sewer plan will drain Garodia Nagar Ghatkopar locals of Rs 2.95 cr
The Con game of BMC
Article that came in the Times of India - Mumbai April 26, 2010
Mumbai: Residents of Garodia Nagar in Ghatkopar are upset with the BMC,which has asked them to pay Rs 2.95 crore within 15 days for the revamp of the drainage system in the area.The people alleged that the civic body had pushed back the project as a result of which the cost had escalated and so they were being compelled to pay such a high amount.
The assistant assessor and collector,N ward,served the demand notice to the Garodia Nagar Welfare Federation (GNWF) recently,asking them to collect the amount from all the housing societies.In its notice,the civic body said the consolidated amount of Rs 2,95,34,178 was being sought as the residents share1 /3rd of the costfor the laying of a sewerage in the area.
The residents moved court after a series of inspections by civic officials confirmed that the drains in Garodia Nagar were dysfunctional,which led to the spilling of the waste into the precincts of a few other buildings.In August,2004,as an interim arrangement to reconstruct the drains,the Bombay high court directed the BMC to collect the residents share.
GNWF secretary G T Jadeja said,In December 2004,following our correspondence,the BMC informed us that the total cost of the project will be Rs 3.19 crore.Since then,we have been asking them to show us the break-up of the amount to be shared by housing societies.
Now,after all these years,they suddenly want nearly Rs 3 crore,almost equivalent to the entire project cost,going by the 2004 rates. Residents said they were being forced to shell out extra because the BMC took so much time.Had the work started in 2004,the residents would have had to pay only Rs 1 crore as their share, Jadeja said.Owing to the BMCs delay,the project cost has now increased to around Rs 9 crore.Why should the residents bear the brunt when the civic body itself pushed back the date.
There are 155 housing societies in the locality,of which 131 are affiliated to the GNWF.KVR Warrier,another member of the federation said,Each society will have to pay something between Rs 70,000 and Rs 3 lakh,depending on the size of their plot.My housing society,with 30 members,has been asked to pay Rs 2,25,000.
Jadeja said the court had pointed out that the 1/3rd share was an interim arrangement and in the final order it would be determined who would have to bear the entire cost.He added,The BMC has carried out similar projects with money from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission fund.They should do the same for this project.
B Shirshat,local corporator,however,said,The residents need not pay any amount as the sewage problem has been sorted out. Disagreeing with Shirshat,Jadeja said,The problem still persists as the sewage from several societies still runs into the stormwater drains,which are covered and cannot be seen from outside. Additional municipal commissioner Anil Diggikar said,I am not aware of the issue.
The assistant assessor and collector,N ward,served the demand notice to the Garodia Nagar Welfare Federation (GNWF) recently,asking them to collect the amount from all the housing societies.In its notice,the civic body said the consolidated amount of Rs 2,95,34,178 was being sought as the residents share1 /3rd of the costfor the laying of a sewerage in the area.
The residents moved court after a series of inspections by civic officials confirmed that the drains in Garodia Nagar were dysfunctional,which led to the spilling of the waste into the precincts of a few other buildings.In August,2004,as an interim arrangement to reconstruct the drains,the Bombay high court directed the BMC to collect the residents share.
GNWF secretary G T Jadeja said,In December 2004,following our correspondence,the BMC informed us that the total cost of the project will be Rs 3.19 crore.Since then,we have been asking them to show us the break-up of the amount to be shared by housing societies.
Now,after all these years,they suddenly want nearly Rs 3 crore,almost equivalent to the entire project cost,going by the 2004 rates. Residents said they were being forced to shell out extra because the BMC took so much time.Had the work started in 2004,the residents would have had to pay only Rs 1 crore as their share, Jadeja said.Owing to the BMCs delay,the project cost has now increased to around Rs 9 crore.Why should the residents bear the brunt when the civic body itself pushed back the date.
There are 155 housing societies in the locality,of which 131 are affiliated to the GNWF.KVR Warrier,another member of the federation said,Each society will have to pay something between Rs 70,000 and Rs 3 lakh,depending on the size of their plot.My housing society,with 30 members,has been asked to pay Rs 2,25,000.
Jadeja said the court had pointed out that the 1/3rd share was an interim arrangement and in the final order it would be determined who would have to bear the entire cost.He added,The BMC has carried out similar projects with money from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission fund.They should do the same for this project.
B Shirshat,local corporator,however,said,The residents need not pay any amount as the sewage problem has been sorted out. Disagreeing with Shirshat,Jadeja said,The problem still persists as the sewage from several societies still runs into the stormwater drains,which are covered and cannot be seen from outside. Additional municipal commissioner Anil Diggikar said,I am not aware of the issue.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Biggest Furniture / Furnishing etc .Home Town at Kanjurmarg Signal
Last weekend went to the biggest Furniture / Furnishing mall at Kanjurmarg Signal called
HOME TOWN 247 Park of the Future group.
having seen the advertisement in the local newspaper decided to visit as i needed a good comfortable chair for the computer table.
I searched the internet & their website but was disappointed , the location map & nor the Home Town website was not there.
The only landmark was near IIT Powai given in the advertisement , also a friend who had visited the place had mentioned that it has a huge logo/ signage & that you cannot miss it on the main LBS road.
On reaching the signal , asked a rickshaw driver and he correctly guided us to the lcoation.
It is closer to the main signal of Kanjurmarg junction. If you drive through the LBS marg from Ghatkopar station its is 8 minutes from R City Mall but on the right side of the road. You will not miss as the more famous signage is 247 Park & Home Town
HOME TOWN 247 Park of the Future group.
having seen the advertisement in the local newspaper decided to visit as i needed a good comfortable chair for the computer table.
I searched the internet & their website but was disappointed , the location map & nor the Home Town website was not there.
The only landmark was near IIT Powai given in the advertisement , also a friend who had visited the place had mentioned that it has a huge logo/ signage & that you cannot miss it on the main LBS road.
On reaching the signal , asked a rickshaw driver and he correctly guided us to the lcoation.
It is closer to the main signal of Kanjurmarg junction. If you drive through the LBS marg from Ghatkopar station its is 8 minutes from R City Mall but on the right side of the road. You will not miss as the more famous signage is 247 Park & Home Town
It is huge & you get to see lot of options & designs, right from nut bolts to bathroom, kitchen, living room garden material , furniture ,you name it is there . It is based on the US HOME DEPOT format, and has the similar name.
So if you are doing up a new house or your current place, this is a must visit mall. The reason is plain simple, in a single store you can get everything.
Only Negative -Inhouse Home Town cafe exorbitantly Priced
The only negative is the Food court as there is none . They have their in house Home Town cafe which has sandwiches & muffins ALL are exorbitantly Priced & the sitting is very cramped with very few seats. The best solution is to go out or from within go to the FoodBazaar & have the snacks there which is MUCH better and reasonably priced.
Do visit if you want to see all the new stuff & the layout designs.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Ration Card Verification Problems
The Terrorists attack on Mumbai & other cities has made one thing clear that there is no mechanism to track outsiders within the city & India.
The only resident identification till now is the Ration Card or the Passport. The Pan card & the Election card is another scam which less said the better.
So to strengthen system to some extent & know the true number of household & the number of people Maharashtra Government had initiated a program for verification of thr Ration card.
So to strengthen system to some extent & know the true number of household & the number of people Maharashtra Government had initiated a program for verification of thr Ration card.
But the Congress led Maharashtra Government has failed again & again in doing so. AAm Admi is made to run from pillar to post only to be left high & dry sweating and shelling more money in return for nothing.
The ration Card fiasco is on such thing, yes its needed to weed out the bogus card holders, but the manner in which the process is undertaken is sheer torture to say the the least.
Last time they had the process to make all ration cards computerised with all the database & a smart card to be given, for 4 months people were given notice to complete the process & if they did not rush to the nearest Ration office the cards would be canceled.
6 months after the entire process got over the plan was canceled by the Maharashtra Government (Congress - Vilasrao Deshmukh)
6 months after the entire process got over the plan was canceled by the Maharashtra Government (Congress - Vilasrao Deshmukh)
Not wanting to be fall prey again & the mad frenzy of standing in the heat & being treated like cattle , I had avoided going. But like a true Mumbaikars wanting to see the city which is the only home for ages be safe & peaceful , i rushed to the ration shop before the Feb 15th last date.
On reaching, the lady at the shop after going through the register informed me that the card was canceled, asking her why it was so without giving an intimation of the same to me , i was told that she had no idea & that many cards were canceled & have to be renewed.
Came to know that the Ration shop owner Mr. Gupta was no more & now his son was handling the shop, he was curtious & he wrote a note and told me to rush to the ration office at Pant Nagar & meet the officer Mr Patil.
On reaching the Ration Card office, it was sad to see that even after Independence, the Old ration office was still the same, the small dingy, dusty, full of torn tattered files, paper lying all across, the cancer causing asbestos sheet as roof & the dark , dimly lit office.
Anyway went in to the Window 1 for the form, was told by lady (as though doing a big favour on me & the citizens) to show the note to the officer, rushed to the table, there the officer was busy as usal on his phone & after a good 15 minutes he looked up at the clock , with the time ticking to 5 pm the time to close the office he started his work, after much standing he asked what was the matter .
On showing the note written by the Ration Shop owner (Mr Guptas Son), he pointed me to a person and said go there (its the usual way of all Goverment offices / Municipality Office) rushed to a old guy who then took his own sweet time to find the register (God only knows how those register survive the handling & the conditions of storing them, this in Country which makes Computereised system world over & is known to have the best of brains & technical capabilities).
The register out, he looked into it & confirmed that it was canclled ( heavens only know swhat transpired them to take such a decision without an intimation ), so move to the same officer who after some 10 minutes wrote some note & said to come again next day to fill up the forms & complete the process.
Day 1 eneded with one assurance that the card will be renewed. Following day went in to collect the form, & for some reason they have a only forms printed in Marathi. Even though i know Marathi to read & wirte I did not want to take the chance of being rejected after standing in line.
The next best thing is the FORM FILLING GUY ( yes there is a person who is only assisgned to fill the forms , & his charges Rs 10/- per form ) so did the same , got into line window no 4, the lady after much time wasting checked it & said she needed some more photocopies of the ration card. So off i went to the the photocpies , after the lady checked she gave a receipt & said to come next week to complete the process.
After a week , when i went to present the receipt , the lady was not present & in her place another lady , she saw the note & said that it was not to be presented now , it was dated for next month & only after the Inspector has come to the resident for verification the process will be completed.
Here i'm waiting for the end of the month & the inspector to make sure that the Ration card is renewed & verified.
The complete process has made me agnry & frustrated again, a whole of 3 days were wasted for no fault on my part, true honest citizens have to suffer all this while the aliens, illegals, scamsters , who are aptly taken care with lot of bribes with the full knowledge of the political parties have nothing to bother about.
The Shiv Sena being in control of the BMC does not even blink, when their officers allow the UP / Bihari's to put up hawking carts & construct illegal shop on the foot path & grab government land as long as they get their share of bribe (monthly / weekly/ yearly , running into crores ).
Hopefully with the biggest Census ever taken in the history of mankind will start next week by the Govt Of India , which will be under the UIAD project. Hopefully this will end the mutliple & useless identification system which is still a bane for the goverment well as the people of India.
On showing the note written by the Ration Shop owner (Mr Guptas Son), he pointed me to a person and said go there (its the usual way of all Goverment offices / Municipality Office) rushed to a old guy who then took his own sweet time to find the register (God only knows how those register survive the handling & the conditions of storing them, this in Country which makes Computereised system world over & is known to have the best of brains & technical capabilities).
The register out, he looked into it & confirmed that it was canclled ( heavens only know swhat transpired them to take such a decision without an intimation ), so move to the same officer who after some 10 minutes wrote some note & said to come again next day to fill up the forms & complete the process.
Day 1 eneded with one assurance that the card will be renewed. Following day went in to collect the form, & for some reason they have a only forms printed in Marathi. Even though i know Marathi to read & wirte I did not want to take the chance of being rejected after standing in line.
The next best thing is the FORM FILLING GUY ( yes there is a person who is only assisgned to fill the forms , & his charges Rs 10/- per form ) so did the same , got into line window no 4, the lady after much time wasting checked it & said she needed some more photocopies of the ration card. So off i went to the the photocpies , after the lady checked she gave a receipt & said to come next week to complete the process.
After a week , when i went to present the receipt , the lady was not present & in her place another lady , she saw the note & said that it was not to be presented now , it was dated for next month & only after the Inspector has come to the resident for verification the process will be completed.
Here i'm waiting for the end of the month & the inspector to make sure that the Ration card is renewed & verified.
The complete process has made me agnry & frustrated again, a whole of 3 days were wasted for no fault on my part, true honest citizens have to suffer all this while the aliens, illegals, scamsters , who are aptly taken care with lot of bribes with the full knowledge of the political parties have nothing to bother about.
The Shiv Sena being in control of the BMC does not even blink, when their officers allow the UP / Bihari's to put up hawking carts & construct illegal shop on the foot path & grab government land as long as they get their share of bribe (monthly / weekly/ yearly , running into crores ).
Hopefully with the biggest Census ever taken in the history of mankind will start next week by the Govt Of India , which will be under the UIAD project. Hopefully this will end the mutliple & useless identification system which is still a bane for the goverment well as the people of India.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
R Odeon Cinemax Ghatkopar East Wednesday Dhamaka Rs 50/- any show , Movie
The Cinemax theater at Ghatkopar (R Odeon) has done a good marketing move, their Wednesdays Dhamaka offer is a real winner, where moviegoers can pay only Rs 50/- and watch any movie / show timing .
This is real steal considering that avg show charges are Rs 120/- and above as the show timing progress into the evenings. Now with this offer the theater is doing brisk business on Wednesdays.
Mostly college students, big families and other who rather prefer not to see movies at high prices have also started to walk into to see at this Rs 50/- rate.
The funda being that many hindi movies don't last more than 3 days in theaters , this is because of the silly story lines & awful quality many people consider it to be wise enough to see them on the TV after a month as they can watch iot free of cost albeit with a little advertisement annoyance.
Anyway kudos to the Cinemax team and with opening of the other 2 screens we do hope to see more English movies lined up as many here are more keen to see English (Avatar an example).
So if you want to see a movie do see it on A WEDNESDAY .
This is real steal considering that avg show charges are Rs 120/- and above as the show timing progress into the evenings. Now with this offer the theater is doing brisk business on Wednesdays.
Mostly college students, big families and other who rather prefer not to see movies at high prices have also started to walk into to see at this Rs 50/- rate.
The funda being that many hindi movies don't last more than 3 days in theaters , this is because of the silly story lines & awful quality many people consider it to be wise enough to see them on the TV after a month as they can watch iot free of cost albeit with a little advertisement annoyance.
Anyway kudos to the Cinemax team and with opening of the other 2 screens we do hope to see more English movies lined up as many here are more keen to see English (Avatar an example).
So if you want to see a movie do see it on A WEDNESDAY .
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
New Road from Garodia Nagar to Eastern Express Highway
A new connecting road to the Eastern Express Highway was laid and quietly opened for traffic about a month ago.
This road is parallel to the EEH which connects the 90ft road (which we used to call as Driving school road as about 20 yrs ago this was used by driving school enterprises to train newbies) . The 90ft road starting from the Police Qtrs, Police colony adjoining Vallabh baug lane end where the Maharashtra State police Stadium is built. Leading upto the bridge over the nallah (gutter) joining Garodia Nagar / Nath Pai Nagar to Pestom Sagar.
The New road is built over the waste land swamp which is running parallel to the highway & connects at the end of this bridge. The earlier service road , right at the start of Pushpa Vihar Hotel to the EEH was just a temporary walkway made by the many people who used to stay in Kamraj Nagar. Slowly this road was encroached upon by the vegetable sellers which has now become a big but illegal market for the poor people.
There were attempts made to make this service road a permanent road with many politicians using it as bait for garnering votes, but the local RTO & due to the fact that many people had lost their lives crossing the EEH, and vehicular accidents it was only tarred for walking purpose. The road was used nevertheless by the people and car , rickshaw drivers as a short cut.
The 90ft service road (not to be confused with the other 90ft road which starts from Meghraj Hotel signal to Shivaji Technical school,) has many new buildings on either side, the complex being called Sudha Park, & is now made of concrete. Rickshaw Drivers Unions have been using this road without proper permission for parking more than 200 Rickshaws on either side of the road.
The nuisance created by the rickshaw drivers is less said the better , most of them using the walls of the nearby buildings for urinating, spitting paan residue, washing their clothes and repairing their vehicles. This has created lot of hardships for the residential people mostly ladies who are subjected to eve teasing & constant stares of these drivers & vagabonds. Walking has become a nightmare on this junction as cars come from all directions and also the BEST Bus 404.
Squatters have made the bridge , swamp opposite the Holy Family School, Rerhi Bunder road their homes, they squat all over the place , some segregating garbage , leaving trash not useful to them on the roads. With urine & shit all over the place walking the bridge , road becomes difficult ,coupled with the new problem of the vehicles, which virtually makes this area a death trap.
Hope the Local Corporator / MLA / MP along with BMC , Local police & RTO make some arrangements to ease the problems faced by the little children & people who walk on this road soon.
This road is parallel to the EEH which connects the 90ft road (which we used to call as Driving school road as about 20 yrs ago this was used by driving school enterprises to train newbies) . The 90ft road starting from the Police Qtrs, Police colony adjoining Vallabh baug lane end where the Maharashtra State police Stadium is built. Leading upto the bridge over the nallah (gutter) joining Garodia Nagar / Nath Pai Nagar to Pestom Sagar.
The New road is built over the waste land swamp which is running parallel to the highway & connects at the end of this bridge. The earlier service road , right at the start of Pushpa Vihar Hotel to the EEH was just a temporary walkway made by the many people who used to stay in Kamraj Nagar. Slowly this road was encroached upon by the vegetable sellers which has now become a big but illegal market for the poor people.
The 90ft service road (not to be confused with the other 90ft road which starts from Meghraj Hotel signal to Shivaji Technical school,) has many new buildings on either side, the complex being called Sudha Park, & is now made of concrete. Rickshaw Drivers Unions have been using this road without proper permission for parking more than 200 Rickshaws on either side of the road.
The nuisance created by the rickshaw drivers is less said the better , most of them using the walls of the nearby buildings for urinating, spitting paan residue, washing their clothes and repairing their vehicles. This has created lot of hardships for the residential people mostly ladies who are subjected to eve teasing & constant stares of these drivers & vagabonds. Walking has become a nightmare on this junction as cars come from all directions and also the BEST Bus 404.
Squatters have made the bridge , swamp opposite the Holy Family School, Rerhi Bunder road their homes, they squat all over the place , some segregating garbage , leaving trash not useful to them on the roads. With urine & shit all over the place walking the bridge , road becomes difficult ,coupled with the new problem of the vehicles, which virtually makes this area a death trap.
Hope the Local Corporator / MLA / MP along with BMC , Local police & RTO make some arrangements to ease the problems faced by the little children & people who walk on this road soon.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Garodia Nagar road Tar work (Dambar)
The New Year began with some good news, the road resurfacing with tar in Garodia Nagar. This again is not for the entire colony only the main route, that is from Police Chowky (Devang bldg) to Sati Kripa shopping center & further down to Mamta Hospital.
The question that arises is what is the point of putting tar on the surface area, whereby it has increased the height of the road to such an extent that most of the building compound level is much lower which will aggravate the water logging in the buildings. It was earlier brought to the notice of the corporator that any future road work has to be done keeping in mind that the level of the road is always at par or little lower from the buildings compound floor. So to see the work walked to a nearby building and clicked the photographs
The work is shoddy, without proper supervision or logical understanding as to how it should be done. The sand smoothing of the road is very badly done & i am quite sure with the first rains the surface will be damaged. The slope for the water to flow to the drain holes is also not done properly, the gutter holes are blocked with tar & this will keep water on the roads rather than draining it.
All through a very shoddy work, which really make us realise that this is again election gimmick.
The garden opposite Garodia Palace was being relaid with new tiles & walkway , new compound walls, planting of new saplings and beautification. It has been days now but does not look like the work is completely over , this again is shoddy work to say the least, though the walls have been painted appreciating Mr Prakash Mehta for his help.
6o feet road
Walking the other day on 6o feet road , felt sorry to see the mess that has been made with the new paver block work of the best road that Ghatkopar east had. The paver blocks have been put in such clumsy & uneven way that one now has to be looking down all the time while walking & tripping over couple of times is for sure. Spare a thought for the senior citizens & also little children with vehicles passing by at high speed.Overall the Ghatkopar East PWD work of the BMC is not being monitired nor the citizens have even bothered to take a stand against the wasteful manner in which the BMC is blowing away the tax payers money.
This then is the story of Ghatkopar East, where not many are ready to raise a stand & question authorities or their chosen candidate (MP / MLA / Corporator).
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Assembly Elections Maharashtra Results 2009 Ghatkopar East
Well as expected the result went in favor of Prakash Mehta of the BJP , he also created a record of sorts by winning 4 consecutive times.
This does show that the people of Ghatkopar don't expect much change and so stuck to the old method of playing it safe.
Virendra Bakshi of the Congress gave good competition, if either Raja Mirani or Virendra Bakshi would have been in the fray the votes split would not have happened and the Congress might would have won this time
The surprising thing is the votes garnered by the MNS and also by Raja Mirani , shows people do want to have change & the contest is wide open ,but for now Prakash Mehta rules and people of Ghatkopar hope that he does more for this area and make Ghatkopar East a model constituency that the other should follow.
This does show that the people of Ghatkopar don't expect much change and so stuck to the old method of playing it safe.
Virendra Bakshi of the Congress gave good competition, if either Raja Mirani or Virendra Bakshi would have been in the fray the votes split would not have happened and the Congress might would have won this time
The surprising thing is the votes garnered by the MNS and also by Raja Mirani , shows people do want to have change & the contest is wide open ,but for now Prakash Mehta rules and people of Ghatkopar hope that he does more for this area and make Ghatkopar East a model constituency that the other should follow.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Assebly Elections Maharashtra - Ghatkopar East
Thunder strikes and lighting frights is all that is there for last 3 days. The south India rains have moved upwards to Mumbai and looks like it gonna rain and fill the lakes.
The surprise factor like in the rains is also visible when i saw the pamphlet of Raja Mirani as Independent candidate with the symbol of a broken coconut in a store. He was being potrayed as the candidate from Congress Ghatkopar East area for the Assembly elections 2009 of Maharashtra, but turns out that he did not get the favor of the Congress heads in Mumbai.
Instead the candidate is Virendra Bakshi, who was in 1994 the MLA here, nothing concrete happened when he was elected then and will happen if he wins He just shifted base after he lost the next term and was nowhere to be seen and now like the unpredictable rains he has come back .
Raja Mirani has an office near Ratna Stores and is a known face within the business community as well as the local Gujrathis and certain people who know him personally but he has not been a crusader or a social activist or like that which he portrays in his pre-elections posters.
But considering that he spends most of his time in Ghatkopar east and has friends and families here he has a better knowledge of the problems, the situations and the pulse of the people , more than Virendra Bakshi.
The present MLA Praksh Mehta is no less a force as he has won for the last 3 terms and now is a favorite to win due to the bungling of the congress.
Nevertheless whoever wins, the Ghatkoparites have to a have social activist or someone more professional to deal with the problems being faced.
1. The roads are a mess
2. The sewage problem in Garodia Nagar / Nath pai Nagar
3. The Deonar dump problems
4. Illegal hawkesrs and constructions in the main roads as well as other areas
The above are some of the problems , we need to have a change from the present MLA and fresh mindset to make better the lifes of the common people.
The surprise factor like in the rains is also visible when i saw the pamphlet of Raja Mirani as Independent candidate with the symbol of a broken coconut in a store. He was being potrayed as the candidate from Congress Ghatkopar East area for the Assembly elections 2009 of Maharashtra, but turns out that he did not get the favor of the Congress heads in Mumbai.
Instead the candidate is Virendra Bakshi, who was in 1994 the MLA here, nothing concrete happened when he was elected then and will happen if he wins He just shifted base after he lost the next term and was nowhere to be seen and now like the unpredictable rains he has come back .
Raja Mirani has an office near Ratna Stores and is a known face within the business community as well as the local Gujrathis and certain people who know him personally but he has not been a crusader or a social activist or like that which he portrays in his pre-elections posters.
But considering that he spends most of his time in Ghatkopar east and has friends and families here he has a better knowledge of the problems, the situations and the pulse of the people , more than Virendra Bakshi.
The present MLA Praksh Mehta is no less a force as he has won for the last 3 terms and now is a favorite to win due to the bungling of the congress.
Nevertheless whoever wins, the Ghatkoparites have to a have social activist or someone more professional to deal with the problems being faced.
1. The roads are a mess
2. The sewage problem in Garodia Nagar / Nath pai Nagar
3. The Deonar dump problems
4. Illegal hawkesrs and constructions in the main roads as well as other areas
The above are some of the problems , we need to have a change from the present MLA and fresh mindset to make better the lifes of the common people.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Ghatkopar Retail
Woah been too long since my last post. The better part of not being blog is that you learn so more of the real world.
The last 2 months was lot of activities and the colony saw a fair bit of festivities, with Raksha Bandhan, Dahi handi, and Ganesh Chaturthi.
The rains have played hide and seek and the FLU is all around, had a bout of the viral and was nervous all the same but it just got cured. The buzz in ghatkopar is the coming Assembly election with Prakash Mehta from BJP and Raja Mirani from Congress putting up banners trying to woo the voters.
Moving around to Station for the movie at Neelyog Square last night was quite intresting, the fact that the mall is near to station has not meant much of the Stores/Retail outlets in the mall.
The only saving grace is the Fame theaters and relaince Fresh outlets, the view from the Fame 4th floor lobby is amazing with unobstructed view of the ghatkopar station and west right upto the hills.
The malls is mostly empty and with the coming up of the Odeon R Mall which is also taken its time will mean that the mini malls near the station will stations will have to shut down.
As far as the retail outlets in Ghatkopar its mostly clothing which have opned up.
The last 2 months was lot of activities and the colony saw a fair bit of festivities, with Raksha Bandhan, Dahi handi, and Ganesh Chaturthi.
The rains have played hide and seek and the FLU is all around, had a bout of the viral and was nervous all the same but it just got cured. The buzz in ghatkopar is the coming Assembly election with Prakash Mehta from BJP and Raja Mirani from Congress putting up banners trying to woo the voters.
Moving around to Station for the movie at Neelyog Square last night was quite intresting, the fact that the mall is near to station has not meant much of the Stores/Retail outlets in the mall.
The only saving grace is the Fame theaters and relaince Fresh outlets, the view from the Fame 4th floor lobby is amazing with unobstructed view of the ghatkopar station and west right upto the hills.
The malls is mostly empty and with the coming up of the Odeon R Mall which is also taken its time will mean that the mini malls near the station will stations will have to shut down.
As far as the retail outlets in Ghatkopar its mostly clothing which have opned up.
Will update more on the next .
Monday, July 20, 2009
Monsoon Mayhem in Mumbai
Waiting for the rains and then it poured on July 14th, Mumbai again came to a standstill. No matter how much hard earned tax-payers money is utilised (are they by the BMC) the situataion is still the same.
Just a down pour for 10 hrs and 200 MM of rains this time , remember in 2005 it was 990MM , but we were still struggling to survive, the Mithi river had crossed the danger mark and then it receded because the rains stopped, other wise it was disaster.
Garodia Nagar and the surrounding colonies were as usual flooded, and as written in my earlier post, this year it was more so because the BMC started tiling the concrete cover over the gutters post June 20th, and the mess and quality is less said the better.
Clicked few flooding photos of the day - couldn't take out the camera as it was very heavy rains and would have damaged it beyond repair.
Now the eclipse and the hide tide for the next few days will determine wheter the city be able to survive if the rains are heavy on these days.
The neighbours from the ground floor did not want to take a chance and few have them have kept some of their furniture's other stuff with mattress in higher floor residents homes.
But all in all a welcome relief from the unbearable summers and water shortage problems.
Just a down pour for 10 hrs and 200 MM of rains this time , remember in 2005 it was 990MM , but we were still struggling to survive, the Mithi river had crossed the danger mark and then it receded because the rains stopped, other wise it was disaster.
Garodia Nagar and the surrounding colonies were as usual flooded, and as written in my earlier post, this year it was more so because the BMC started tiling the concrete cover over the gutters post June 20th, and the mess and quality is less said the better.
Clicked few flooding photos of the day - couldn't take out the camera as it was very heavy rains and would have damaged it beyond repair.
Now the eclipse and the hide tide for the next few days will determine wheter the city be able to survive if the rains are heavy on these days.
The neighbours from the ground floor did not want to take a chance and few have them have kept some of their furniture's other stuff with mattress in higher floor residents homes.
But all in all a welcome relief from the unbearable summers and water shortage problems.
Friday, July 3, 2009
New Shops in Ghatkopar
Most of the shops in Ghatkopar east springing up is either Garments - Readymade for men / women or it is Opticians.
Walking on rainy Wednesday night saw 2 Optical Stores, Lawrence & Mayo the famous age old opticians from D N Road - Fort in downtown Mumbai has come up near the Home Mart Store in the same building. Huge place with good collections of frames .
The Other one is bang opposite it next to Mayur electronics - in compound the Ratna Stores.
Think its the new age distractions ( Mobile / Ipod / TV / Comp ) that people have got used to with little or no outdoor activity due to this many have eyesight problems .
Just in the vicinity of Odeon theatre to Ghatkopar station east and near west there on last count will be atleast 17 optical store. whew think it a big margin business that so many in such a short time have started this.
Walking on rainy Wednesday night saw 2 Optical Stores, Lawrence & Mayo the famous age old opticians from D N Road - Fort in downtown Mumbai has come up near the Home Mart Store in the same building. Huge place with good collections of frames .
The Other one is bang opposite it next to Mayur electronics - in compound the Ratna Stores.
Think its the new age distractions ( Mobile / Ipod / TV / Comp ) that people have got used to with little or no outdoor activity due to this many have eyesight problems .
Just in the vicinity of Odeon theatre to Ghatkopar station east and near west there on last count will be atleast 17 optical store. whew think it a big margin business that so many in such a short time have started this.
Mumbai Flooding - Garodia Nagar
Down and out for some time due to tooth surgery. It has been raining whole week here in Ghatkopar and is something very good for the people / country and agriculture.
Water woes has been the word all that we are hearing all around the country and with the coming of rains has brought a God sent relief.
Garodia nagar has been facing the same problems year after year , the BMC and the people just turn blind eye and move on, its only gutsy few who have stood up and raised the issue time and again, of these most of them are retired people past 65 years.
The residents have not bothered to see how the BMC and the utility companies do a shoddy job and run away, and consequence of all this the entire colony has to face.
The Local corporator has done little to see what the plight of the colony is , nor the MP or the MLA who by the way stays just a few minutes from the colony.
BMC started the cleaning fo the gutters on June 10th in Garodia Nagar and left all the debris/garbage on the roads and having had enough time with delayed rains which started only on June 24th the garbage is still on the road and now is a stinking slippery and dirty muck all over the road.
The BMC started tiling the concrete cover of the gutter which again started On June 20th and has still not finished, the result is the contractor has left all the sands/ left over mixed cement and debris without bothering to have it collected and packed off in the garbage trucks. The entire colony is filled with muck , most of which have blocking the opening to the gutter and water being collected all over the roads, making life miserable for the residents to walk, and vehicles passing by splashing the muck on people who have no choice but to walk that path.
Yet inspite fo this none bother to stop and ask the contractor to have the area clean up after the work .
They city and garodia nagar has witnessed many flooding, epidemic , health hazards due to all this, but not many will stop and take and initiate or come together to that some thing more can be done by just walking by and suffering quitely.
Water woes has been the word all that we are hearing all around the country and with the coming of rains has brought a God sent relief.
Garodia nagar has been facing the same problems year after year , the BMC and the people just turn blind eye and move on, its only gutsy few who have stood up and raised the issue time and again, of these most of them are retired people past 65 years.
The residents have not bothered to see how the BMC and the utility companies do a shoddy job and run away, and consequence of all this the entire colony has to face.
The Local corporator has done little to see what the plight of the colony is , nor the MP or the MLA who by the way stays just a few minutes from the colony.
BMC started the cleaning fo the gutters on June 10th in Garodia Nagar and left all the debris/garbage on the roads and having had enough time with delayed rains which started only on June 24th the garbage is still on the road and now is a stinking slippery and dirty muck all over the road.
The BMC started tiling the concrete cover of the gutter which again started On June 20th and has still not finished, the result is the contractor has left all the sands/ left over mixed cement and debris without bothering to have it collected and packed off in the garbage trucks. The entire colony is filled with muck , most of which have blocking the opening to the gutter and water being collected all over the roads, making life miserable for the residents to walk, and vehicles passing by splashing the muck on people who have no choice but to walk that path.
Yet inspite fo this none bother to stop and ask the contractor to have the area clean up after the work .
They city and garodia nagar has witnessed many flooding, epidemic , health hazards due to all this, but not many will stop and take and initiate or come together to that some thing more can be done by just walking by and suffering quitely.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Back to School and Rains
Many of the readers have asked me to put some recent photographs of the area and also the old/new places / roads of Ghatkopar.
Well I will in a short time, i do take pix of the area , but as I am at work i don't really get to remove in daylight. Hopefully will do it on Weekend when I am free.
The sky is cloudy and the humidity is making the the summer more as heat waves of the north , very very hot and humid, life is miserable for everyone in Mumbai.
The schools have started and the kids are back to work, old school buddies, old teachers and the same old class room. I had a tough time in school when it used to reopen, it was always gloomy, dark cloudy sky, rains and the wet feeling was always a dampener for the nice summer holidays that had gone by.
The children nowadays are more used to it sitting in homes playing video games, surfing on the net, playing with mobiles so they don't really miss the outdoor games, the walks in the colony, the cricket matches and so and so forth.
Went shopping the other day to Reliance Fresh - outlet at the Ghatkopar station East at Neelyog Square Mall for some veggies and fruits, but was thoroughly disappointed with the spread it was not fresh and very few of the veggies were good , the fruits the less said the better, i felt the road side vendors have a better quality spread.
The Shoppers stop Spinach is also now in a bad shape , it had very few veggies and all were in state of decomposing so to say, the Golden Bananas were all rotting and yet the tag showed 24 Rs per Kg, what a pathetic show by the so called revolutionising the retail corporate biggies.
The truth is no matter what, it all depends how convenient it is for the shoppers to pick their daily veggies, fruits and grocery which is closer to their home. It hardly matters if they have to travel all the way just for the Air conditioned hall these retail outlets offer. After all the pricing is not a big draw as it is same or at time costly.
The nearby bargaining with vendors is a real hassle when it comes at your door vendors, but still the outcome is that now that the retail biz is down , the local vendors have taken the cue and know that the shoppers will come back them so they have jacked up the prices.
The Fruits are very costly and the most cheapest the bananas are yet again out of stock - the yellow ones, the Golden bananas is not available and the small Elia chi Banana which are mostly very very small and not ripe are being sold for a whopping Rs 20 a dozen, darn you have to see it to believe what a ridiculous price for that.
The old shop at Sati Krupa shopping at Garodia Nagar run by Dhanji gala / Ramesh his son is now given out on rent to their cousins and they have started the renovation work and in a months time will be ready with a swanky little outlet. Hope they bring back the customers who have now mainly shifted to Ratna stores or do their buying from Big Bazaar at the Ghatkopar station west outlet or at Home Mart at the Odeon veg market.
Well I will in a short time, i do take pix of the area , but as I am at work i don't really get to remove in daylight. Hopefully will do it on Weekend when I am free.
The sky is cloudy and the humidity is making the the summer more as heat waves of the north , very very hot and humid, life is miserable for everyone in Mumbai.
The schools have started and the kids are back to work, old school buddies, old teachers and the same old class room. I had a tough time in school when it used to reopen, it was always gloomy, dark cloudy sky, rains and the wet feeling was always a dampener for the nice summer holidays that had gone by.
The children nowadays are more used to it sitting in homes playing video games, surfing on the net, playing with mobiles so they don't really miss the outdoor games, the walks in the colony, the cricket matches and so and so forth.
Went shopping the other day to Reliance Fresh - outlet at the Ghatkopar station East at Neelyog Square Mall for some veggies and fruits, but was thoroughly disappointed with the spread it was not fresh and very few of the veggies were good , the fruits the less said the better, i felt the road side vendors have a better quality spread.
The Shoppers stop Spinach is also now in a bad shape , it had very few veggies and all were in state of decomposing so to say, the Golden Bananas were all rotting and yet the tag showed 24 Rs per Kg, what a pathetic show by the so called revolutionising the retail corporate biggies.
The truth is no matter what, it all depends how convenient it is for the shoppers to pick their daily veggies, fruits and grocery which is closer to their home. It hardly matters if they have to travel all the way just for the Air conditioned hall these retail outlets offer. After all the pricing is not a big draw as it is same or at time costly.
The nearby bargaining with vendors is a real hassle when it comes at your door vendors, but still the outcome is that now that the retail biz is down , the local vendors have taken the cue and know that the shoppers will come back them so they have jacked up the prices.
The Fruits are very costly and the most cheapest the bananas are yet again out of stock - the yellow ones, the Golden bananas is not available and the small Elia chi Banana which are mostly very very small and not ripe are being sold for a whopping Rs 20 a dozen, darn you have to see it to believe what a ridiculous price for that.
The old shop at Sati Krupa shopping at Garodia Nagar run by Dhanji gala / Ramesh his son is now given out on rent to their cousins and they have started the renovation work and in a months time will be ready with a swanky little outlet. Hope they bring back the customers who have now mainly shifted to Ratna stores or do their buying from Big Bazaar at the Ghatkopar station west outlet or at Home Mart at the Odeon veg market.
Hopefully the rains will bring some relief to this heat and humidity, but at a price with the water logging and filth and the contamination of drinking tap water.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Rains In Mumbai and Flooding
Long Hiatus again , cause it time to get prepared for the rains, specially if you reside in Mumbai / garodia nagar, ghatkopar.Well the first showers were here in the morning today, the roads were wet and small pools of water collected on the roads.The morning air had the earthy smell, like it always does when the first showers fall on the soil.
Come rains in Mumbai and the people start running for taking all the precautions so as not to get trapped in the now infamous Mumbai flooding that have become such a regular thing.
The gutters / drains have now been cleared to some extent by the BMC in Gardoia Nagar albeit late or must say very late. But the debris removed from the gutter is still lyin gon the raod as it has not been collected by the dumper.
I don't understand the working schedules, timelines of the BMC, this is the 4th year since the flooding of 2005 which made Mumbai a death trap. Yet the BMC fails to implement a schedule to clean and tar the surface and potholes much before the May deadline.The cleaning of the Garodia Nagar gutters began just last week, and this also is being done by the contractors hired by the BMC, their work hardly monitored or supervised by the men In BMC and is left entirely to the contractors, who are totally hand in glove with the ward officials and pay good amount of money to the officials to see that they don't give a bad report about the same.
For long the gutters were not covered , so it was much easier for the ALM sweepers to clean them as and when they had the time. Now with the BMC taking over the cleaning of the same and with the gutters being closed / covered with concrete with very small drain covers it does not give much space to clean the gutters completely, thus accumulation of rain water is always there.With the main Nalla, route of the water that pass into the large chambers / channels to the sea is covered with debris and illegal construction on these areas and squatters have made this problem more acute.
The BMC has time and again always blamed the utilities and other agencies working for the betterment of the roads and infrastructure as the main source of the flooding and pothole problems, this is not entirely wrong as most of the utilities specially the telecom companies and the electrical power companies dig at their own will and hardly take the effort to cover the roads in a proper manner , or quality of material ,without any knowledge of civil work the contractors of these companies make a mess of the nice and evenly tarred road, resulting in water logging and pot holes with the first rains.
Coupled with the Potholes, untimely or no cleaning of the drains gutter, poor scheduling, the lack of responsibility from the BMC as well as the utilities and also the general residents poor civic sense to adhere to have a proper disposal of dry wet garbage, Mumbai has become the richest garbage dump city of the world .As for Garodia Nagar, the ALM's were doing a good work with proper coordination and with little or no help from the residents they had still managed to keep the colony nice and clean.
But the residents most of them highly educated, cultured and knowledgeable are still bad when it comes to civic sense, the dry wet garbage disposal which was time and again shown and demonstrated by the local housewives , and men and children has not made any sense to these so called clean and knowledgeable residents.
The most basic problem is the segregation of dry wet garbage at source , in own homes many still don't do this and unless we have this system in our very homes and each and every individual becomes more responsible for what is happening in our homes and neighborhood , we all will be walking in dirty , goo (shit and urine filled drain waters coming from our very own toilets and ours neighbors , our children will go to school in the same waters, working people dressed up in best of clothes and shoes will just ignore and without looking down in the shit will walk and go to and come home as if it was nothing but plain good water.
Happy shit and urine filled monsoon to all of Mumbai, may all of us enjoy each others shit and urine and may God bless Mumbai with all the best diseases & epidemic.Sunday, May 17, 2009
Mumbai General Election 2009 results
Time for the new Central Government formation is going on in Delhi.
As for the Mumbai North East Constituency the results were really surprising a very closely fought, like I had mentioned one couldn't rule out the possibility of surprise winner.
So the results are as under
As for the Mumbai North East Constituency the results were really surprising a very closely fought, like I had mentioned one couldn't rule out the possibility of surprise winner.
So the results are as under
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Total Votes |
| Sanjay Dina Patil (Winner) | NCP | 213505 | 654870 |
| Kirit Somaiya | BJP | 210572 | 654870 |
| Shishir Shinde | MNS | 195148 | 654870 |
Sanjay Dina Patil is now the new Member of Parliament (MP) representative from Ghatkopar area.
The following is a quote from Mumbai Mirror .
NCP MLA Sanjay Patil scored a surprise win in a closely fought contest against the BJP’s Kirit Somaiya and MNS’s Shishir Shinde.
“It does not matter whether I won by a single vote or a one lakh margin. I have won and will work for the entire constituency. This is the victory of the Congress-NCP-RPI alliance. It isn’t my individual victory. We were expecting to win in any case,” said Patil, beaming with pride.
“The constituency faces infrastructure problems because of the rising population. Raging issues include load shedding and water shortage in Shivaji Nagar, as well as problems with the dumping ground. I will address all these issues,” he said.
Meanwhile, his opponent Somaiya chose to stay away from the counting booth right from the beginning, probably anticipating what was to come.
Even after the results were declared, Somaiya did not speak to the media. "
Even after the results were declared, Somaiya did not speak to the media. "
# Important to note is the highlighting of the point of the garabge dump at Deonar, which has now become a very big health hazard issue for the local area.
Hope his support will help us to take this issue, what with the High Court which has given an order whereby the BMC has been asked to take several mesaures to see that the Deonar garbage dump is propeely mainatined and the burning of the waste is not done and also to look for alternative site as the Deonar Garnage Dumping has reached its saturating point and its almost upto the height of 5 floors.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Mumbai Thane Voters List Check your name in Voter List Website
One of the Important Websites for Mumbai Voters List is listed below it is the voters list as per the Mumbai , Thane Collector Office.
This information was mentioned in the HINDUSTAN TIMES - MUMBAI EDITION dated 29.4.09.
So please check here for your names Mumbai Voters, General Election 2009. This link is handy anytime you have to check your name.
This information was mentioned in the HINDUSTAN TIMES - MUMBAI EDITION dated 29.4.09.
So please check here for your names Mumbai Voters, General Election 2009. This link is handy anytime you have to check your name.
FOR CITY AREA OF MUMBAI - http://mumbaicity.nic.in
FOR SUBURBS OF MUMBAI - http://mumbaisuburban.gov.in
FOR THANE CITY - http://thaneelection.com
FOR SUBURBS OF MUMBAI - http://mumbaisuburban.gov.in
FOR THANE CITY - http://thaneelection.com
Alternatively you can call
# 1290 (only from MTNL landline - if you are based in the City areas from COLABA to MAHIM)
#022-26513682 / 26513683 - if you are based in the Suburbs
#022-2534215 - for Thane, Vashi, and Kalyan
# 1290 (only from MTNL landline - if you are based in the City areas from COLABA to MAHIM)
#022-26513682 / 26513683 - if you are based in the Suburbs
#022-2534215 - for Thane, Vashi, and Kalyan
Some important websites of NGO who are doing a wonderful job of educating the general public
Jagrut Nagrik Manch - www.jagrutnagrik.com
Jaago Re - www.jaagore.com
Mumbai Votes - www.mumbaivotes.com
Vote India - www.voteindia.in
For all Garodia Nagar residents the polling station is at the P G Garodia English High School
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