First View

At the outset we have taken the initiative of writing to the elected members of the parliament and legislative assembly. It is their prerogative whether to get involved with us.

There are different methods of tackling our daily problems, the RTI being the most effective.

Whilst we wait for the feedback from our elected representatives we could delve on the beautiful History of our past.

Let’s begin with Badlapur by far the cleanest town amongst ours, a place where the great Maratha Warriors and traders from Surat changed their horses for the difficult trek towards Konkan.

As a kid I always cherished a visit to the Badlapur river banks or rather the Ulhas river banks in Badlapur during our summer vacation with our family and relatives. The banks were full of shade with scores of fruit trees like the Mango, Jamul, Chikoo, Guava, Jackfruit and Ber. We would camp below them.

The river had perpetual water flowing and was not very deep thus allowing us kids to enjoy a cool dip. Today this spot does not exist. I still make a trip during monsoons to experience the water falls close by.

I still yearn for those days.

Badlapur has now grown; I have yet to see a large slum or shanties that the rest of us in Kalyan, Dombivili, Ulhasnagar and Ambarnath experience daily. What is the difference, why slums here and not there?..............................

INTRODUCTION

                                                          

BUKAD literally means Badlapur, Ulhasnagar, Kalyan, Ambernath and Dombivili. Our historical towns were once prosperous and cosmopolitan. We were part of the Maurya and Gupta empires, the Yadavas, the Marathas, the Moghuls and the Portuguese.

We had direct trade through sea with Persia and Mesopotamia i.e. Iran and Iraq even Bombay port was established. We’ve had Christian missionaries dropping in on their way to China, The Parsi’s too had settled here.

The famous temples like the Shiv Mandir, Kodeshwar temple, Vithal temple are still intact because of the efforts of the common man.

Today BUKAD is considered a part of the Greater Mumbai metropolitan agglomeration, along with Navi Mumbai, Thane and Bhiwandi.

Unfortunately today we are at the mercy of bukkads, the corrupt have ruined us, and we simply accept this as a part of our normal lives.

Today with Anna Hazare showing the way, our Politicians cannot carry on like an Ostrich with its head buried in the sand. I guess we have a great M.P. and MLA’s unfortunately it is the ones below them that are responsible for the mess we are living in.

We would take this blog with all your comments to our elected guardians and revert to you. Please do not use abusive language but definitely this is a blog to vent your ire on the misfortunes bestowed upon us by the corrupt.

Now look forward to your posts.