Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Andheri - A Tourists Guide

Hi Friends,

I am a resident of Andheri East. I have been residing here since the past thirty years. I schooled and groomed here and was oblivious of the problerms that dogged our locality until, I started travelling to Engineering College in Airoli. That was the time I realised the rot we were living in. The traffic jams at Sakinaka, Powai and Chakala were real nightmares. The years from 1996-1999 were the ones when the roads were getting concretised and flyovers getting built. Not to mention the BMC and MTNL which would dig and dig and dig for God knows what !.
Then came MGL which started digging for its pipelines.

And imagine all of them during the monsoons with the numerous potholes on Saki-Vihar Road. We were no better than Congo and Somalia in Africa!!! !!! A Bus ride was no better than a Camel ride.

The entire effect was utter chaos. Like a Atom Bombed City - Virtually Standstill. Traffic snarls for atleast 3 hours were very common.

The railways were no better. Since there were hardly any flyovers connecting East and West suburbs, The phataks made life miserable for the already groaning Railway infrastructure. Rail-riots were very common. Western railway travellers were in a bad state. You can imagine the state of Central Railway. Which is pathetic even now - 10 years then on.

All this and the roads with the illegal shops encroached on government land and to add the icing on the cake the hawkers - standing, squatting and cart-driven. I say the middle class has suffered a lot due the un-symphathetic "system" called the government. Imagine the plight of the middle class mothers and wives, who after a gruelling session of up-down travelling have to come home to starving kids, hubbies and in-laws and start to serve them, thus imagine thier tyranny.

I have termed a phrase for the lethargic government officials and call them - Government Job .
The reason - these are the people who enter Government orgainisations with little or no qualifications suitable for thier post. They enter the government in search of a very less demanding position. Do little or no work and hence enjoy the pensions and other perks for actually doing nothing throughout thier lifetime.

I say Government Job is a very responsible job, much like joining a Military Service. You have to love your country and the people, before even thinking to get in to public service. The very phrase - Public Service - says everything.

So I am in the attempt to pool all intelligent people of Andheri (and suburbs of Mumbai) to get together and voice thier opinions about the different problems that dog Andheri (and even other areas).

I will forward your opinions to the responsible people who govern and manage Mumbai and try and force them to act and deliver results. I can help you in raising complains in your areas to the right authority.

This blog can be a record of the various problems that affect our socety as India move forward towards being a world power.


Tools such as RTI, DARPG etc, should be used effectively to see to it that our tax money reaches us in the form of effective governance.

Common problems dogging Andheri:
1. High traffic
2. Noise pollution
3. Too many Autorickshaws
4. llegal hawkers
5. Trees being felled
6. llegal encroachment of Aarey Colony greenery
7. Water wastage due to road concretisation
8. Water contamination
9. Milk Adulteration
10. Bad building construction standards
11. Lack of BEST buses to station during peak hours
12. Problems of women commuters
13. Security situation in Andheri.

We can discuss all of this in our blogs. All the views should be very mature and well researched.

I will be writing atleast one article on each topic over a period of time. Please do respond with your views.

I will provide links where you can get information on various topics concerning our region.

So All the Best for a better Andheri... :)

Lets Start Blogging

Warm Regards,
Sujit Menon
(Responsible Citizen Of Andheri)














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