‘Pleasantly Surprised BMC Responded, Fixed Footpath So Fast’

Members of My Dream Colaba, Maria and Bella make sure that the BMC is accountable for civic issues in their area.

Bella Shah and Maria Chikoo clicked photos of potholes and sent them across to BMC officials.  

(Photo: The Quint/Shubhangi Mishra) 

Video Editor: Varun Sharma and Sandeep Suman
Cameraperson & Producer: Shubhangi Mishra

Most of us are only concerned about maintaining our homes, but what about the streets in our neighbourhood? What about the footpaths we walk on?

My friend Bella Shah and I, Maria Chikoo, decided that we must act as responsible citizens and work towards keeping our area clean. To achieve this, we started working with a local citizen group called ‘My Dream Colaba’ (MDC), an initiative by corporator Makarand Narwekar.

Any civic issue that needs to be resolved in the area, like broken footpaths, uncovered potholes, cleaning of garbage dumps, beautification of walls, etc, we coordinate with the BMC officials to make sure the issue gets resolved.

BMC Challenged Us To Spot A Broken Footpath

The BMC had challenged the residents of Colaba to spot a broken footpath, take a photo and uploaded it on the BMC site and it would be repaired within 24 hours.

So we decided to take the challenge!

We spotted two such footpaths in the area mentioned by the BMC, one on Shahid Bhagat Singh Road and the other opposite to Poornima Buildings in the same area. We took photos of the scene and sent it to the concerned BMC department.

Damaged footpath in front of INS Shikhra on Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, Colaba.(Photo: The Quint/Shubhangi Mishra) 

Broken footpath in front of Poornima Building on Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, Colaba.(Photo: The Quint/Shubhangi Mishra) 

Soon, we were pleasantly surprised to see the BMC take quick actions.

BMCs Accountability is a Welcome Change

Usually, while the work is in progress, the BMC officials keeps us updated with its status. We followed the same procedure for the other footpath too.

“I uploaded the picture and sent it to the BMC officer. I hoped it would be done within 24 hours.”

Bella Shah, MDC Member

In this case, within four hours of the complaint being registered, we received a message from the BMC officials telling us that the work was already done.

“It was surprising to see that within four hours, the footpath was repaired. Around 5-5:30 pm, we received the message from the concerned department.”

Bella Shah, MDC Member

BMC officials repaired the footpath within a few hours of the complaint being registered. (Photo: The Quint/Shubhangi Mishra) 

Govt Officials And Their Negligence Cost Us A Lot

A lot of times, due to the negligence of other government officials, newly constructed footpaths get damaged very fast.

The contractors make the footpaths and leave. Then you have people like the MTNL, the BEST, etc. They come, dig up roads, do their job, and leave all the tiles scattered.

This time, however, the BMC really stepped up and fixed our problem quickly. We appreciate their efforts and we hope they continue to do this.

BMC officials repairing the footpath.

BMC officials repairing the footpath. 

BMC officials repairing the footpath. 

(All 'My Report' branded stories are submitted by citizen journalists to The Quint. ThoughThe Quint inquires into the claims/allegations from all parties before publishing, the report and the views expressed above are the citizen journalist's own. The Quint neither endorses, nor is responsible for the same.)