Till recently, over one lakh people in Kandivali and Malad were living with uncertainty since 2011. Why? Because they lived around the army's Central Ordnance Depot (COD). Most of their homes were dilapidated and were in desperate need of redevelopment. But a rule that required them to take a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the military, dashed their hopes of redeveloping their homes.
The COD which sprawls across 17 acres has over one lakh people living in thousands of buildings around it.
Ever since the government made it mandatory for a NOC to be granted for the construction of a 4 storey building or higher within a 500-meter radius of a military installation, the residents had been fighting for permission for construction. Sitting MP Gopal Shetty had staged a sit-in protest at Union Minister's office for the same during his tenure.
Speaking about it BJP MLA from Kandivli East Atul Bhatkhalkar claimed that the issue of construction around defence land has been sorted out during Shetty's tenure. He told, "After Union Ministers Manohar Parrikar and Nirmala Sitharaman looked into this issue, a circular has been brought reducing the 500-meters radius permit to 10 meter."
Like other constituencies, slum rehabilitation and redevelopment is a major issue in this constituency. Slums have also encroached upon forest land, and the issue is yet to be addressed.
Another major problem faced by people of this constituency is east-west connectivity. Demand for extension of Harbour line till Borivali which will allow trains all the way from CSMT and Panvel to ply is still elusive. Reports of a new bridge at Gorai led to resistance from fishermen in the area who fear reduced catch. The issue is yet to be addressed. The proposed bridge via Manori is in the last stage of discussions with Maritime Board.
Public transport and transportation, in general, is a challenging endeavour in this constituency. It took 12 years for Metro to chug through Versova-Ghatkopar Metro line. The ongoing Metro work for Jogeshwari-Dahisar and DN Nagar to Dahisar link road which has caused traffic bottlenecks is expected to ease traffic woes once completed.
However, most constituents of BJP MP Gopal Shetty are happy with the development work he has carried out in his area.
Meena Oza, a 57-year-old resident of Dahisar(E) said, "Gopal Shetty has improved the state of gardens in my area. We got relief from water crisis in our area to a great extent. He is always willing to help people. However, I think he should use his privileges to reduce the rates of electricity and school fees."
Shetty, who worked for the beautification of his constituency is referred to as 'garden king' by his constituents. He is also known for helping senior citizen's clubs in his constituency. Shetty has sorted out the long-pending issue of graveyard for Muslims by sanctioning five acres of land for the graveyard to both Shiya and Sunni Muslims.
Speaking to DNA, Shetty said, "My day starts early in the morning. At least 250 citizens come to me with their problems everyday. As an MP, I improved the outlook of all the three railway stations in my constituency."
RESIDENTS LARGELY AT PEACE WITH MP
But issues prevail, including that of traffic congestion, encroachment of forest lands, redevelopment etc
CONSTITUENCY PROFILE AND DEMOGRAPHICS
Before delimitation on 19 February 2008, Mumbai North Lok Sabha constituency comprised Palghar, Vasai-Virar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad and Goregaon Vidhan Sabha constituencies. After implementation of the Presidential notification on delimitation this constituency comprises six legislative assembly segments which include Borivali, Dahisar, Magathane, Kandivali East, Charkop, Malad West.The area has a strong presence of Gujaratis, Marwaris and North Indians.
Gopal Shetty, BJP MP
POLITICAL EQUATIONS
In 2014
Gopal Shetty was elected to the Lok Sabha, defeating nearest rival and sitting MP Sanjay Nirupam of the Congress by a huge margin of 4.46 lakh votes. Nirupam, who won the 2009 poll by just over 5,000 votes could garner 2.17 lakh votes while Shetty got 6.64 lakh votes.
In 2019
Sans BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, the constituency might witness a trilateral contest between the BJP, Shiv Sena and Congress-NCP alliance. Nonetheless, BJP would have an upper hand. BJP has four out of six MLAs including state culture affairs minister Vinod Tawde. It also has 22 corporators in the BMC against none in the last few years.
PERFORMANCE OF MPS
- 145 Debates participated in
- 47 Special mentions
- 453 Questions
- 3 Supplementary questions
- 15 Government bills
- 28 Private bills
- 6 Committee memberships
UTILISATION OF MPLADS FUNDS
- Rs 25 cr Entitlement to constituency
- Rs 12.50 cr Fund released by GOI
- Rs 12.54 cr Expenditure
- Utilisation percentage over amount released 98.36%
- Unspent balance 1.97%
THUS SPOKE JANATA
Our MP has work hard during his tenure. He meets people on regular basis and works to solve their issues. However, he should work to ease traffic congestion due to Metro work— Zarna Upadhyay, Malad
We live in ghettos, we don’t have permanent houses. Monsoons continue to flood our homes. Our complaints fell on deaf ears. Neither did Shetty visit our area nor is concerned about us— Deepak Swamy, Magathane
There is a dire need of a road linking Link Road and Malad. We have met Shetty several times on this issue but in vain. Ambulances get stuck for hours in traffic jams, jeopardising lives — Rajesh Sharma, Malad
In the last 4 years, there has been drastic changes in my area — roads have been mended and other facilities have improved. Now, MP should focus on making Borivali safer for women — Akshay Sawant, Borivali