The C Ward of the Island City of Mumbai consists of some of the oldest areas of the city. These areas have been urbanized since the past 100 years and accommodate a large population. The area consists of mixed land use with commercial, residential and manufacturing activities being carried out in close quarters of each other. Almost ninety percent of the buildings in this ward are three decades to a century old and hence are in a very weak and in dilapidated condition. The 'C' ward comprises of 4500 - 5000 cessed & noncessed dilapidated buildings housing nearly 1.5 lakh people. Many of these buildings are in a state of imminent collapse.

The town planning in these wards is a century old and is crumbling and considerably strained with the additional load it has seen over the decades. The roads and lanes are very narrow creating perpetual traffic management problems. Since these areas house the oldest trading and commercial areas there is considerable flow during the day of business visitors which puts enormous strain on the movement of men and materials. The day time population in these wards is almost five times the night population; hence traffic & pedestrian movement is highly congested.

The sewage and garbage disposal systems in these wards have completely collapsed and only held together with temporary measures which have to be carried out frequently. During monsoons the sewage flow mixes with the rainfall and it creates conditions for the spread of many contagious and life threatening diseases. Mosquitoes, flies and disease bearing conditions lead to poor hygiene and illness. Thus considering the conditions of the C Ward as enumerated above there is a dire need to address the issue of creating new living and working conditions for the residents of the ward which ensures a better environment to live in.

Some of the key problems faced by the residents and users of the C Ward

1. Small tenements and dingy living conditions.

Today residents in C Ward live in very small tenements which are not well lit, have poor access and are dingy. A large number of houses do not meet even the new minimum tenement size requirements.

   

 

2. Inadequate road space

The narrow lanes of Kalbadevi were made more than 100 years back keeping the little transport that took place that time. Motorized transport had only started and even the pedestrian traffic was a function of the low population that existed then. As the area started becoming a trading and financial hub and as the population of the city as a whole increase so did the human and motorized transport in the area. In 2008 human, cars, handcarts, tempo’s trucks and cycles all jostle with each other to use the limited available road width. We show pictures of congestion on the roads. Handcarts, pedestrians, bicycles, taxi,s tempos, private cars,

 

3. Street level noise due to honking

The congestion on the streets automatically translates into higher noise pollution levels due to he incessant honking and shouts of handcarts and cycles to make way through the maze. A lot of this noise pollution would not arise were the road widths adequate and various different kinds of traffic was well segregated.

 

4. Unhygienic surroundings.

A century old infrastructure means that the sewage lines are broken down at many places and not sufficient to handle any additional load. Only a complete overhaul of the infrastructure will do at most places.

 

5. Inadequate open space.

C Ward can have a density of nearly 1,00,000 people per sq.km during day times. Along with such high density is also the incidence of almost negligible open space in the ward

 

 

6. In times of a disaster fire brigade, ambulance and other relief measures find it difficult to reach.