Working against odds

The Port Trust Garden on the Boman Cawasji Boman Behram Marg was initially used as a toilet, as it was lying vacant. We made sure that this vacant plot, which belongs to the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT), was converted into a garden for the benefit of the residents. This initiative took a lot of effort and several follow-ups but the ALM managed to finally do it. 
The ALM has also maintained the Palm Springs Garden for the Cuffe Parade residents. There are a lot of hotels down the lane near Garden Road that were initially taken over by vagrants, who would give performances using monkeys for foreign exchange touts and foreign tourists who would gather around to watch. The entire area near Garden Road and Mere Weather Road was frequented by such people, who would also spoil the vicinity. So we hired security guards to keep a tab on them—this is probably the only road in Mumbai that has security guards assigned to it. Implementing all of this was difficult but we could do it because of the ALM.
When a few hawkers decided to settle down or come near Mere Weather Road, we would chase them off, as following up with the ward would have taken too long. But we did make the ward help us out with the vagrants’ situation, when pavement dwellers were trying to pitch tents near a Port Trust building. 
Other major problems that hassled us for long were those of drug peddling and prostitution. During the time when Naveen Kumar was heading the ALM, even the major drug kingpins were nabbed from here. The Colaba Cuffe Parade Citizens’ Group was one of the first ALMs here, which has now been disbanded. Currently, as part of the Colaba Quadrangle Residents’ Group, we are fighting against the illegal hawkers on BEST Marg and illegal parking with the help of other ALMs and resident associations.

As told to Pooja Patel