CSR: Take Action Against Illegal Encroachment
A middle aged woman plays with her life everyday on the Marol Maroshi Road when she walks to the Vijay-nagar bridge to buy the favorite vegetables and fruits for her young granddaughters. A bike rider going to office everyday from the Ghatkopar Link Road is looking for alternate options for commute fearing his safety on the traffic filled road. The health conscious folks of the city have to choose late night or early morning to cycle, walk or run in order to breathe fresh air.
There are barely any footpaths in Mumbai where people can walk freely without having a fear of their lives. Encroachment has a residence in the city. The footpaths are covered with small scale businesses like tea stalls, bag repair shops, florist shops, barber shops and what not. It wouldn’t be surprising if these hawkers have a collateral with a printed address of the roadside on them. If there are no hawkers there are vehicles parked on the side converting the three lane roads into two, causing traffic.
The situation makes the city a chaotic place for daily commute. It is almost like a set for an adventure based reality show for pedestrians, cyclists and even the two wheeler riders. The traffic police are present, however they are understaffed compared to the traffic density and thus they struggle to manage the hoards of vehicles.
We citizens are the most affected in this circus. We crib and whine all the time making the city even more undesirable because of all the negative vibe. However, very few of us have taken any action against this.
MCGM has designed a portal called Removal of Encroachment. This has made it easy for every citizen to file a complaint against encroachment and follow up on it. The government is taking the necessary steps to build a better and safer city for us after the stampede incident at the Elphinstone station last year. They are also coming up with an app, which would allow every individual to snap evidence of mismanagement or encroachment, and upload on the app to register a complaint.
Now it is up to us to wake up and smell the coffee. We as citizens have to be aware about this right that the government is bestowing upon us to bring a better administration with more transparency. It is our responsibility to take action, confront the rule breakers or file a complaint against them. After all, if we as individuals will not work towards making our city live-able, who will?
Click on the link below to register complaints on the Removal of Encroachment portal next time you come across an illegal establishment.
http://removalofencroachment.mcgm.gov.in/
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Regards,
The CSR Journal Team
