From redevelopment issues to traffic woes: south Mumbai voters demand long-term solutions
The state’s ambitious plan is to redevelop the 207-odd buildings of BDD Chawls. Pic/Ashish Raje
The South Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency comprises six Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) segments, including Worli, Shivadi (Sewri), Byculla, Malabar Hill, Mumbadevi, and Colaba. It will witness a showdown between the two Senas-Shiv Sena (UBT) two-time sitting MP Arvind Sawant and Shinde Sena’s sitting Byculla MLA Yamini Jadhav. The constituency is crucial because it has high-profile MLAs from both sides like Aaditya Thackeray and Mangal Prabhat Lodha and the constituency profile is made up of some of the richest citizens to slum dwellers to the Kolis, the city’s original inhabitants. The richest constituency will witness a battle between the two Senas.
Key issues in a nutshell
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The key issues here are housing issues as most of the buildings are in the danger list or under redevelopment. Redevelopment of BDD chawls in Worli, concerns about old cessed and non-cessed buildings in South Mumbai, issues and problems related to the cluster development of Bhendi Bazar, planned development after opening up of Port Trust land and old mill land, opening up of Mahalaxmi race course land, traffic issues due to the intervention of Coastal Road at many locations passing through the constituency are some of the key issues that concern this constituency. Another important issue is that with multiple high-rise towers coming up in the area, there is a challenge to maintain a balance of open and green spaces.
Constituency profile
The constituency is a mix of high- and low-profile voters being home to some of the richest citizens in the country and also areas like Mohammed Ali Road, Girgaum, Colaba, and Worli. It also includes the VIP areas that house the ministers and government officials, corporate offices, and even defence installations. The seat became a subject of contention during seat-sharing negotiations among MVA political alliances, which was given to the sitting two-time MP Arvind Sawant. Similarly, in Mahayuti, both the BJP and the Shiv Sena staked their claims on the seat with the former cashing in on good organisational set up and the Shinde Sena claiming that the seat had been with the undivided Shiv Sena (Arvind Sawant), staking a claim and putting up Byculla MLA Yamini Jadhav. The negotiations led to a delay in pitching the Mahayuti candidates. The constituency has a nearly 45 per cent Marathi population, eight per cent Gujarati Marwadi population, 12 per cent north Indians and 20 per cent Muslims.
Past election results
In the Lok Sabha 2019 elections, Arvind Sawant of the undivided Shiv Sena won the seat polling 4,21,937 votes securing 52.62 per cent votes.
Worli
Worli is a mix of high-rise towers, old chawls, and a fishing village. Residents of Worli-Koliwada had a major say in the Coastal Road project with the government in power accepting their demands of increasing the span of pillars to enable fishing boats. The issue of residents of the BDD chawls which are being redeveloped into buildings is a key contender here. Worli is a predominantly Maharashtrian assembly constituency with around 65 per cent Marathi voters but seeing a slow rise of other communities with the increase in high-rise towers. The issue of opening up of Mahalaxmi Racecourse is a key issue. In the 2019 assembly elections, Aaditya Thackeray won the seat by defeating Adv (Dr) Suresh Mane of the NCP.
Shivadi (Sewri)
The profile of this constituency has changed with the Atal Setu merging here and traffic and congestion issues are slowly increasing. The issue of the old Bombay Port Trust building redevelopment has also been a key discussion point. Old residents here fear a looming threat from the rise of towers on abandoned long stretches of old mill land and godowns. There are also concerns about further land acquisition for the new and proposed Metro alignments passing through this stretch. In 2019, Ajay Vinayak Choudhari of the Shiv Sena (undivided) won the seat by defeating Santosh Raghunath Nalawade of the MNS with a margin of 39,337 votes.
Byculla
The Byculla assembly constituency has been a very crucial part of this Lok Sabha constituency with areas like Agripada, Madanpura, Nagpada, and Mazagaon falling under this jurisdiction. The issue of cluster development, the growth of areas like Mazgaon due to the development around the Eastern Freeway is changing the profile of the constituency. The old pockets of Umerkhadi, Ghodapdeo, and Chinchpokli are also looking at scores of building redevelopment projects. Lok Sabha candidate Shiv Sena (UBT) Yamini Jadhav is the elected MLA from here. It was the first time that the Sena had won this seat. Jadhav won the seat by defeating Waris Yusuf Pathan of the AIMIM.
Malabar Hill
The plush area of Malabar Hill has open spaces and gardens as a major concern issue with citizens. The issue of shutting down the iconic Hanging Garden for the repairs of the Colonial-era water reservoir underneath led to a strong citizen movement with several meetings and active involvement of elected representatives. In 2019, Mangal Prabhat Lodha of the BJP, who is now Mumbai city’s guardian minister, won the seat by defeating Heera Devasi of the Congress.
Mumbadevi
Mostly a business and traders’ cluster, the Mumbadevi assembly constituency stretches from Princess Dock and Wadi Bunder to Bhendi Bazar, parts of Nagpada, Kamathipura, and Bhuleshwar. The issue cluster development of Bhendi Bazar remains the prime issue here with other issues being that of house gully gutters and sanitation along with issues of traffic congestion. The spread of schools and hospitals in this area is also dense and residents seek help on various issues here. In 2019, Amin Patel (third term) of the Congress party won the seat by defeating Pandurang Sakpal of the Shiv Sena.
Colaba
The southern tip of the city, this assembly constituency starts from Pydhonie, Masjid Bunder to Colaba and Navy Nagar. Besides redevelopment and infrastructure, water is the key issue here. The water supply system is particularly bad for Colaba. During every water cut, Colaba ends up dry. The issue of redevelopment of cessed and non-cessed buildings is also a major issue here. There is a need to expedite the Metro Line 3 projects. In 2019, Rahul Narwekar of the BJP, now speaker of the legislative assembly won the seat by defeating Ashok Arjunrao Jagtap of the Congress.
Voices
Shobhana G Mhatre, an 80+ year-old senior citizen
The upcoming 2024 election in South Mumbai brings to the forefront a critical group of voters - tenants residing in cess buildings/properties like me. We have been grappling with the lack of progress in securing houses through redevelopment projects for nearly two decades! The main obstacle lies in the unholy nexus between builders, MHADA, and MCGM, which has disregarded recent housing rules and regulations passed by the State Government. The disillusionment among these voters is evident as they demand answers on why such an issue has taken an exorbitant amount of time to resolve and serious intentions shown by elected representatives to pursue and pick up such cases for closure!
Devendra Tandel, a fisherman
The sitting MP Arvind Sawant has failed us as our MP during our rough times when Crawford fish market was getting demolished. The treatment we received from him was apathetic. However, again there is a fresh development of shifting fisherwomen from Crawford Market to Phule Market which is being opposed by the fishing community. This new development is happening during the tenure of Mahayuti Sarkar. So, the fishing community is left in the lurch. There is no assurance given by any candidates nor any major parties to address our issue at hand.
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