THE TIMES OF INDIA 20 Mar 14 0003hrs ISTFull site Home | More Sections | Scorecard | Most Read | mPaper | Mobile app No space to walk, but women feel safe Mar 13, 2014, 06.13AM IST TNN[ Anahita Mukherji & Sumitra Deb Roy ] A Mumbaikar in search of the citys best locale is unlikely to venture into the choked gullies and rickety buildings of Dongri and Masjid Bunder or the gridlocked bylanes of Mohammad Ali Road and Pydhonie where traders jostle for every square inch of space. B ward, which encompasses Mumbais most congested areas within its 2.84 sq km, has emerged the dark horse in the race to the top spot at the TOI-IMRB satisfaction survey across wards in Mumbai. B ward is also home to the Dongri Childrens Home, once a British prison, as well as historical precincts such as Princess Docks and Victoria Docks. While the area was infamous for gangsters who once frequented its streets like Dawood Ibrahim, Karim Lala and Yusuf Batla, the survey ranks B ward safest for women, a sentiment echoed by virtually every woman spoken to in the area. Though children here no longer grow up listening to underworld tales, they somehow imbibe daring qualities peculiar to Mumbai-9, the pin-code now synonymous with the neighbourhood. We are known to respect our women. Women can walk down the streets of Dongri at 2am and no one will dare touch them. Thats something we do not tolerate, said Dongri resident Sunil Tiwari. His two decade-old grocery shop opposite St Josephs High School on Jail Road has witnessed the emergence of Dongri, Abdul Rehman Street and Bhendi Bazar as a bustling wholesale trade hub. I can walk around Pydhonie wearing 100 tolas of gold at 2am and I know that Ill be perfectly safe. If one man touches me, 10 others will pounce on him, said Rubina Rasheid, a resident of Tawakkal Builing in Kolsa Gully. Congestion, though undesirable, may be a boon for women, ensuring they feel safe at all hours of the day or night, points out Ishrat Mullah, a collegian who lives in Kesar Baug, a stones throw from Habib Hospital. The safety of this cramped neighbourhood has meant that Rasheid can leave her daughter alone at home without any fear. But this very same congestion has meant that her son Muzammil grew up dodging cars and stray goats while playing gully cricket for want of any playground or open space in the vicinity. My husband ensured we took the kids to a garden or open space every Sunday, said Rasheid. The area is a tangled mess of cars, people, bicycles and stray animals. The comfort of family and safety of the streets notwithstanding, the chaos and confusion caused by unwieldy traffic, absence of parking space and encroached pavements have thrown life out of gear for residents and traders in the ward. Negotiating ones way through Huzoor Ashraf Ul Ulama Chowk under JJ Flyover is as difficult on foot as it is by car. Rasheids husband would often miss doctors appointments due to traffic. Between 4pm and 6pm, no cab will stop for you, even if youre dying, she added. Were always late for weddings, said Pydhonie resident Rizwan Motiwala, who said it took his family an hour to reach his sisters wedding in Byculla, a distance that should have taken him 10 minutes. Motivalas son missed his Class IV exams as the private bus ferrying him to school was stuck in traffic. While JJ Flyover may have eased traffic in Mumbai, those living in the shadow of the flyover feel the bridge has pushed them into a blind spot. Politicians dont bother about traffic in our area as it no longer affects them, said Motiwala. Cars are double-parked on both sides of the main road. Most evenings, there is just one lane for moving traffic. Most drivers dont care about the no-entry signs or one-way lanes. Traffic constables turn a blind eye to the offenders, said the owner of a perfume shop overlooking Abdul Rehman Street. Saifuddin Sisawala, a shop-owner on Kolsa Street, said people from Zaveri Bazar now park their vehicles in the area as they are not allowed to do so in the vicinity of the diamond market after the triple blasts a few years ago. The wards 950 house gullies, some less than two feet wide, are now stacked with cars. Our workers find it difficult to clean house gullies as vehicles are invariably parked there, some for days at a stretch. Around 300 labourers clean the area, said Kishor Gandhi, assistant municipal commissioner, B ward. The ward office is often called to clean five-feet-high piles of garbage. While B ward is among the smallest in the city, it has a population of around 1.27 lakh according to the 2011 census. It has a population density of 60,000 per sq km, among the highest in Mumbai. Residential spaces are rapidly shrinking, only to make way for commercial establishments, said Najma Qureshi (23), who works in Tawakkal building, in the narrow Kolsa lane off Abdul Rehman Street, one of the busiest in the locality. Most floors of the once-residential building have now been converted into offices. This may have to do with South Mumbais sky-high property prices that make the ward unaffordable for residents. Visitors traipsing along the century-old staircase of Sugra building on Abdul Rahman Street are likely to chance upon dingy rooms where artisans string together imitation jewellery. The wards proximity to two major Central Railway stations, Masjid and Sandhurst Road, adds to its commercial appeal. The survey found that people were happy with trains though cleanliness was a sore point. However, a more pronounced need was felt for better bus connectivity in the area. Unplanned commercial growth has contributed to traffic chaos. Qureshi said traffic jams made it impossible to commute by bus or taxi from her home near JJ Hospital to her office in Pydhonie. She said she spent 25 minutes everyday walking to work, negotiating broken pavements and uneven roads. The confluence of three major wholesale markets on Abdul Rehman Street, Ibrahim Rehmatullah Road and Bhendi Bazaar sees a floating population of nearly 3 to 4 lakh traders and hundreds of hawkers who service them. You can never go hungry in this area, as eateries are open till 4am, said Mullah. From automobile spare parts on Abdul Rahman Street, secondhand books on Kitab Street, cheap merchandise at China Bazaar off Abdul Rahman street and a whole range of goods from perfumes to cosmetics on Mohammad Ali Road, the area is famous for good bargains and infamous for its sea of people. Email this article to a Friend More Body of man found in actor Ranjeets swimming pool, police suspect suicide Chargesheet filed in harassment case against MLA Girl jumps to adjacent building to meet ‘lover’, dies Home | More Sections | Scorecard | Most Read | mPaper | Mobile app Other Mobile Sites : ET MOBILE, Indiatimes, itimes, Job Search, Property Search, Post Print Ad, follo, GreetZap, Alive, TimesMobile, ZigWheels Copyright © 2014Bennett, Coleman & Co. All Rights Reserved Powered by Indiatimes. Terms of Use and Grievance Redressal Policy WITH THANKS TO THE TIMES OF INDIA
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 18:51:32 +0000
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