“Our slums are riddled with drug addicts all day. In recent years they have become bolder. Chain-snatching, robbing people of their mobiles and cash, picking fights for no reason have become every day events. The police have hardly done anything to reign them in.”
Mumbai : With drug addicts dominating the streets all day, the Bainganwadi and Shivaji Nagar slums in Govandi have virtually zero policing, allege its residents who have been living under the perennial threat of crime for decades.
“Our slums are riddled with drug addicts all day. In recent years they have become bolder. Chain-snatching, robbing people of their mobiles and cash, picking fights for no reason have become every day events. The police have hardly done anything to reign them in,” said Moinuddin Sayeed, a resident of the area.
“All drug addicts belong to the age group of 18 to 25 years. And they consume some pills called ‘buttons’; they put Iodex balm on bread and eat it, sniff the solvent of a whitener, or consume alcohol. Every third person here is a drug addict,” said Mukesh Gandhi who sells tailoring articles and equipment.
While during the day there is no patrolling, at night, the police come for one round at 10 pm to make sure shops are being closed down and later around midnight to do a second check. Besides that there is no other form of patrolling.
Coming down heavily on the police, activist Medha Patkar, on the other hand, said that the police there are corrupt and besides their salaries, survive on the bribes from drug peddlars. “The Shivaji Nagar police receive money in lakhs on per day basis from drug peddlars. Their functioning takes place based on nothing but bribes. It’s a huge racket that needs to be broken and most of the time innocent people become victims of this corruption,” Patkar said.
According to Professor Ameeta Bhide who teaches Urban Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences the perception among people about the residents of Shivaji Nagar is that they are criminals and occupying the area illegally.
“Since they are already made into criminals and illegal citizens, no one wants to come forward and help them. There are police chowkies in the area but without policemen, young boys are engaging in the consumption and peddling of drugs, there’s inadequate lighting. Not only the police, but people and perception about them also needs to change,” Bhide said. The college is currently working on a developmental project to improve the area.
The corporator of Bainganwadi, Rais Shaikh, did not respond to calls, while the MLA from Shivaji Nagar-Govandi area, Abu Azmi could not be reached on phone.
At a press conference held on Wednesday evening, when asked about these drug addicts the Additional Commissioner of Police (East Region) Chhering Dorje said that the police are doing everything possible to reign them in.
