By Rehan Ansari, TwoCircles.net,
Mumbai: Garbage on the road and in narrow lanes. Space between two buildings used for dumping wastage by the residents in south Mumbai. After Iftar, these are the common scene here. These apathy and carelessness lead to mosquitoes and unhygienic living conditions in Ramzan.
Jameel Chacha, 58, said, “In our area vendors come out on the road in Ramzan, they capture every nook and corner but these small time vendors who sell usually fruits and other fried items leave behind lots of garbage and wastage on the road after the completion of fast.” The list of vendors consist of the poor Muslim locals of the area and migrants from UP and Bihar.
Drive for cleanliness in Muslim areas in Mumbai during Ramzan
“We can’t take any action against these poor people and it’s our need that we get the Iftari items close to our house but this unhygienic condition has to be dealt with seriously” said Zama Ansari, a resident of the area.
Vendors settle their shops near the mosques where thousands of Namazis used to come and that is a cause of great concern, added Zama.
Dr. Sadiya Shaikh complained, “We Muslims have completely neglected sanitation and hygiene and its impact on our health and on the society as a whole.”
Afreen Fayyaz Ahmed, local corporator, came to rescue the local body. She hired people who brush the roads and clean the surroundings during the whole month of Ramzan. She said, “This problem was regular in every Ramzan, and Mumbai Municipal Corporation provides sweeper only in the morning so we hired eight people for ourselves and provided them all the kits to clean the whole area when people are in Traveeh Namaz.”
“This is something needed for a long time but no one cared. We are grateful to the local corporator who arranged these guys for cleanliness in our area” said Niyaz Ahmed, a resident.