With traffic chaos, missing dividers, and defunct surveillance haunting the area, township members trigger government attention
Incomplete parabolic dividers in Lokhandwala Complex, Kandivli
With no respite from issues like incomplete parabolic dividers, unregulated traffic and non-functional CCTVs, residents of Kandivali’s Lokhandwala township have raised their concerns with the chief minister's office (CMO). To the surprise of locals, within 24 hours of the complaint, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ office has responded to the complaint directing concerned officials to take appropriate action and measures to address the issue.
Around 25,000 flats of Lokhandwala Complex, a township in Kandivali East, have been facing civic and traffic issues for a long period. As complaints to local authorities yielded no results, the members decided to escalate the issue with CM Fadnavis. A citizen forum called ‘We all Connect’, in consultation with other members of the township, decided to start a mass email movement, where citizens living in Lokhandwala township started emailing the chief minister's office about the grievances they are facing on a daily basis. Besides the Lokhandwala complex, the forum has members from the neighbouring Thakur Complex, Thakur Village, and Raheja Township (Upper Govind Nagar, Malad).
Accordingly, from April 10, 75 individuals emailed the CM’s office about problems like–traffic, civic and security (non-functional CCTVs). To the surprise of many complainants, on April 11, the township members got a reply from the CM office on their complaint. “We were expecting an automated reply. But, to our surprise, many of us who have received a reply from the CM office have different officials marked in the CC of the email communication. This means someone has written the email personally and not a computer-generated reply,” Santy Shetty, founder president of the citizen forum, said.
mid-day has been regularly reporting on the issues of the Lokhandwala township and helping locals to voice their grievances and get solutions to the same. Besides bad roads and incomplete dividers, the township members keep complaining about traffic issues, especially the growing menace of illegally parked vehicles in the narrow lanes of these areas. The residents are more concerned about criminal activities like–eve teasing, theft and petty crimes happening in the area. “Many of the CCTVs are not functional in the township. This is a real cause of concern for locals,” Shetty added.
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