MUMBAI, May 11: Residents of Bangur Nagar, Goregaon (west), are sore over the rampant encroachments in their neighbourhood even as their repeated complaints to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation continue to fall on deaf ears.

The half-kilometre stretch from Motilal Nagar to Bangur Nagar along the Link Road has been turned into a virtual market, with the chawl owners renting part of their houses for commercial use. Residents said commercialisation on a large scale started last year after the Link Road was concretised.

Apart from the extension of houses on one side of the road, temporary huts have come up on the other side. Some of the construction workers have also put up temporary huts as they do not have any other place to stay.

Dr S Pophale, who has been pursuing the matter with civic officials and the local police for the past one year now, said no action has been taken so far.

He told Express Newsline he had also voiced his complaint at a meeting attended by ward officer M D Sharma, senior municipal officers and zonal police commissioner Charan Singh Azad. ``However, no action was taken by any of the officials,'' lamented Pophale, adding the residents are scared of openly complaining against the encroachments. He asked, ``Why was action not taken against the ward officer when Chief Minister Manohar Joshi has been repeatedly saying that ward officers will be held responsible for any encroachment in their respective wards?''

The local councillor R R Pillai has also not taken any interest in the matter, the residents complained. On the other hand, residents of the housing board chawls, who have been staying there for the past three decades said they had to extend their homes to earn a living. Sunil, who has a cycle repair shop, said he had built a temporary shed and he would remove it if the BMC objected.

He added the municipal authorities had threatened to demolish the illegal extensions, but they did not turn up even once. Sharma could not be contacted as he was on leave.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.