Colaba, Its now or never !

Dear Friends;

I write this to you with great deal of humility and gratitude for all the love and support that each one of you has shown during my visit to your building. It has only strengthened my resolve to participate in the democratic process to realize the dreams of thousands of people from Colaba. During this process when we visited several households in ward 227, we realized that all of us share the same feeling of resentment and betrayal for years by the political parties. We have not received anything except unfulfilled promises.

We undertook an extensive exercise to consult the citizens of the areas on the problems that they have been facing to set priorities for ourselves. The priorities for Colaba ward 227 emerging out of this consultative process are listed below;

}        Adequate Water

}        Roads

}        Effective waste management

}        Reclaim encroached public space

}        Public-Private Partnership

}        Accountability and Transparency in public expenditure in the ward

}        Parking 

}        Safety of senior citizens and vulnerable

}        Dedicated helpline

}        Effective management of stray animals

}        Periodic trimming and effective management of road side trees

}        Noise pollution reduction

Do write to us in case we have missed something. We have now embarked on the mission to find ways and means as to how we can achieve the priorities for Colaba ward 227. Will share more on this in the days to come.

We have continued our emphasis on creating awareness amongst the people for the need to participate in electoral process. We can not regress by 5 more years by not voting and thereby not choosing the most eligible candidate to represent us in BMC.

I urge each one of you to block your calendar for February 16, 2012 being the date of voting and take it upon yourself to ensure that not only you and your family votes but ensure that you motivate 10 other people to vote. This is the only we can increase the shameful voting percentage of 23% seen in 2007 elections.

Political parties will once again be at your doorsteps making the same promises they made 5 years back. I am confident that they can not fool us this time around. Now it’s for us to stand up and take the rein in our hands.

I look forward to your continued support and involvement in this movement of participative governance. The idea is to bring BMC closer to the people!

Let’s empower each one of us…

Warm regards;

Makarand Narwekar

Independent Citizens’ Candidate- Ward 227

 

My Dream Colaba Organises walkabout on Garden Road..Citizen's come down in great numbers to get their voice heard...

Dear Friends.

It gives me great pleasure to share with you that My Dream Colaba successfully facilitated one more initiative where people came down on the streets to get their voice heard.

Yesterday at Garden Road in Colaba several citizens (including senior citizens) came down to protest against many of their civic issues which have fallen on deaf ears inspite of several complaints made to the local Corporator of Ward No.225 and the BMC officials. The following problems have been plaguing Garden Road residents perennially;

1. unofficial rag storage on the footpath creating nuisance for the residents;
2. unattended motor bike, boxes and timber stored on footpath literally occupying the entire footpath and also posing security threat;
3. tree branches piled on footpath and trees not pruned potentially creating a breeding place for mosquitoes and rendering the footpaths absolutely unfit for the citizens;
4. nuisance of drug peddlers operating in this area posing great risk to the young kids of the area;
5. taxies unofficially parked in the area marked for private cars;
6. one unattended taxi which is parked for several months. 

This locality is one of the most expensive areas of Mumbai. However, the pathetic civic conditions which prevail here highlights the lax attitude of BMC. By this march we intend to attract the attention of BMC to all the above issues. An official representation is made post the march to BMC. This marks the increasing trend of society members getting down on the streets to seek attention of the local authorities.

This event was attended by several citizens of the area and organised by Ghanashyam Hegde, Atul Zaveri, Cynthia D'mello and Makarand Narwekar of My Dream Colaba. The event also received adequate media attention (http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Citizen-groups-highlight-BMC-s-inefficiency/Article1-800561.aspx) I thank each one of you who participated in this walkabout and the media.  This is the wayforward. Lets join hands to make a difference together.

Warm regards;

Makarand Narwekar  

Senior Counsel of Hon'ble Bombay High Court Mr. S.G. Aney recommends Makarand Narwekar !

Justice V.G. Palshikar (Retd) recommends Makarand Narwekar !