Nullah the bone of contention at Robert Compound

During the deluge of 26/7 the houses in Robert Compound, Kolevery Village, Kalina was almost submerged. The main cause of the flooding was because the gutters had been choked with no passage for the water to exit. Despite almost five years the position is the same complains Sunil Sethi. His house gets flooded even when it drizzles as the village’s drain has been encroached upon and illegally diverted. More than 150 villagers have launched a citizens’ movement to raze, what they claim, are illegal encroachments along the drain by the construction of Raj Galaxy, a building that locals claim has diverted the flow of the nullah, resulting in flooding in the area. Locals claim the original drain that passes through the village was supposed to flow under the building which has been diverted after the coming up of the building. Sethi while speaking to Santacruz Patrika claims that he has documents to show the builder was asked to build a connecting nullah through the building to the main drain to reduce flooding. But he has blocked the nullah by building a compound wall admits Sethi. However, while clarifying with the corporator Rafiq Sheikh, he disputes the allegation and says that the nullah has been passing through the building of Raj Galaxy which is illegal. He adds,” Because of the nullah passing through the society premises the dirty water on many occasions have entered into the water tank of the building. To sort out this problem I have myself with my funds constructed a nullah and ensured its cleanliness.” He further emphasized, “The residents keep dumping garbage in the nullah resulting in the blockage. Let any of the residents approach me with a complaint, I will ensure that it is cleant within 48 hours.” Also, Anand Waghralkar, AMC H/E Ward claims that the nullah wasn’t encroached upon.” We had instructed the developer to build a connecting nullah from the building, but then we constructed the nullah and diverted it. So, the connecting nullah wasn’t required.”