Mumbai: Bad and congested roads, contaminated and less water, poor infrastructure, rampant illegal constructions, large scale lawlessness and the seemingly never-ending wait for implementation of redevelopment plan are some major problems that Dharavi residents have to bear with.
The residents claim that from last five years, they are facing acute water shortage. “This is because the timings for water have been reduced by two hours. Even the pressure of water has been cut,” said Abdul Qureshi. “Also, our business has suffered a lot due to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) introduced by the present government.
If this government gets a second term then our future generations will have to suffer,” said Qureshi, who is a scrap dealer.One of Asia’s biggest slums Dharavi has no proper schools and civic-run hospitals in its vicinity. “There are no good schools for our children and thus we are compelled to either admit them in far off schools or make them study in this shoddy institutions,” claimed Khwaja Qureshi.
Click here for latest updates on Lok Sabha Elections 2019
“There are no proper roads, even there is no proper management of garbage, which is usually thrown in public roads. There has been a rise in daylight theft instances. This places is witnessing complete lawlessness under Shewale and the present government,” Khwaja, a plastic dealer said.
According to Khwaja, the present MP Shewale has only won votes from Dharavi but could not win the hearts of the residents. “He visited this place only in 2014 to seek votes. We obliged. And now we have not seen him since then,” alleged Khwaja.
“It appears, he has forgotten Dharavi and its residents. He only won our votes but not our hearts,” the plastic dealer said. Another resident, Dindayal Gupta slammed the government for spending huge funds for the construction of statues. “Statues can wait but people cannot. Instead of spending such big amounts for these statues, the government could have spent on providing basic amenities to Dharavi residents,” Gupta, an electrician by profession, lamented.
