Maharashtra Polls: Kurla Assembly Constituency (174) - A Crucial SC-Reserved Seat Facing Redevelopment, Open Space Challenges

Mumbai: Kurla assembly constituency, number 174, is one of the two seats in the city reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates. The constituency, with around 2,97,000 voters, sprawls between Chunabhatti near Sion to Pestom Sagar - Tilak Nagar in Chembur, apart from localities like Nehru Nagar, Sable Nagar, Sahakar Nagar (Shell Colony), Kamgar Nagar in Kurla (East) and Kurla (West).

The constituency is also demographically diverse, with hilltop slums, working-class tenements, and middle and upper-middle-class localities. The area has a concentration of Dalits and Muslims. The constituency was reserved for Scheduled Castes after the 2008 delimitation. The assembly segment is part of the Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha seat won by Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate, Varsha Gaikwad of the Indian National Congress in the 2024 parliamentary elections.

Shiv Sena's Mangesh Kudalkar, the sitting Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), has represented the constituency for the last two terms. In 2019, Kudalkar won the seat with 55,049 votes, defeating his Maha Vikas Aghadi rival, Milind Kamble of the Nationalist Congress Party, who received 34,036 votes. The AIMIM candidate, who finished third, received 17,349 votes.

Kudalkar is said to be 'accessible' though there are charges that he has been of not much help during the recent agitation to conserve the partially forested Kurla Dairy plot as a recreational space. Kudalkar, who has been a resident of the Kurla, has been ranked 15 among 29 MLAs from the city in Praja Foundation's 'Mumbai Report Card: MLA rating 2024'.

The rankings were based on the MLA's attendance during the assembly sessions, the quality of questions raised by them, and their criminal records. Kudalkar was ranked 20 in 2024, 13 in 2023, and 9 in 2022, giving him an average rank of 15.

"Kudalkar is a thorough gentleman and attends to problems faced by residents,' said Mohini Thakre, chairperson of the Pestom Sagar Citizens' Forum, an organisation representing residents of nearly 110 buildings. "Recently I called him for financial help to a couple who had premature twins. One of the babies died but the hospital bills were too high for the family. Kudalkar immediately agreed to help the family."

Many of the area's tenements for industrial workers constructed by Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) in Kamgar Nagar, Nehru Nagar, and Tilak Nagar are undergoing redevelopment, with residents getting larger apartments in exchange for their tenements. Other residential areas like Pestom Sagar are on land belonging to the District Collector and a huge premium (a percentage of the land value) has to be paid by residents to transfer the land to their co-operative housing societies before redeveloping their buildings. "Kudalkar is instrumental in reducing the premium from 65% to 10% and 5% in some cases," said Thakre.

Kudalkar himself lists the reduction in the premium as one of the important achievements during his decade-long tenure. "The reduction in premium has benefited areas like Everard Nagar, Pestom Sagar, and CST Road. The reduction in the premium rates have benefited other areas in the city too," said Kudalkar.

Kudalkar explained the fall in his rankings in the Praja Foundation report by saying he had to skip some of the last assembly sessions because of bad health. "Anyway, the survey is based on attendance, criminal records, and questions asked by the MLA in the assembly. The survey does not talk to residents of the constituency. I have delivered what I had promised in 2014," he said, adding that decongestion of roads outside Kurla station and redevelopment of the station building are his plans for the next term as he hopes to get nominated for the seat for the third time. Other plans include free homes for families of former workers of Swadeshi Mills who now live in dilapidated quarters and a flyover to replace the railway level-crossing near Chunabhatti station.

Kudalkar's rival in the 2019 elections, Kamble, who represented the constituency between 2009 and 2014, said that many projects he initiated, like the construction of retaining walls along the hills to prevent landslides, have not been completed. "There are areas where residents have not seen their MLA for the last ten years," said Kamble who said he was confident of winning the seat this time. "This is because the Kurla constituency was crucial in ensuring Gaikwad's (Varsha) win. The MVA got nearly 83,700 votes in the Kurla segment, compared to 57,000 for the other alliance."

The massive reconstruction has brought more residents to the area as builders sell the extra flats constructed during the redevelopment process to newcomers. The influx of new residents has strained the area's roads and recreational space.

According to residents, the lack of open spaces for recreation is one of the biggest problems in the congested area. "There were not many playgrounds and gardens to start with. Due to redevelopment, a building with 40 families, for instance, now has over 150 families - nearly four times the old number. The open spaces were meant for the population in the 1960s. Every open space is used for parking vehicles and there is no place to walk and no space for children to play," said Nilesh Kamble of Lok Chalwal, a resident's association created recently to campaign for open spaces and preservation of the land under the Kurla Dairy.

Residents are demanding that the only large open space in the area - the 21-acre plot belonging to the defunct Kurla Dairy be protected from construction and preserved as a recreational space. "There are nearly 3000 trees in this plot and we are asking the government to keep it without any construction," said Nilesh Kamble.

Dr Vijay Sangole, a resident of Godrej Prime, a recently redeveloped housing complex in Sahakar Nagar 2, said, "The open spaces that were already there are maintained, but the population density has gone up because low-rise buildings have been replaced with high-rise apartments. Traffic will worsen in the coming years. The roads are relatively well-maintained and water supply is not an issue in most areas," said Sangole.

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Residents said that many problems in the area, like encroachments and lack of parking space are the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's responsibility. "There are slum pockets in Pestom Sagar and there has been hardly any effort to remove them. However, Kudalkar helped us to protect an open space encroached by squatters. The plot is reserved for a hospital, but Kudalkar helped by providing money from his MLA funds and the guardian minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha to construct a wall around the plot," said Thakre.

"Kudalkar has given positive feedback and support on the Kurla Dairy issue, but we think he is playing house. He should step out and place our demands before the government," said Nilesh Kamble.

Key Concerns

Kurla Dairy land dispute

Lack of adequate recreational space

Congestion around Kurla railway station

Flooding of low-lying building compounds during heavy rain.

The danger of landslides in slums located on hills.

Encroachments in areas like Pestom Sagar.

Inadequate parking space

Growth of illegal multi-story tenements in slum pockets