Protest: Citizens’ Diwali gift to BMC

MUMBAI: This Diwali, civic officials will a unique gift from citizens.

A citizens’ group -- Free A Billion -- will on Thursday protest outside the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters at Fort to demand better services.

Free A Billion, a newlyformed group with 20 core members, has been holding protests outside various ward offices in the city for the past 10 days. The group has been protesting for better garbage-managment, hawker-management, good roads, sanitation, better airquality, getting rid of encroachment and illegal parking among other issues.

“Our protests will intensify as the BMC elections near. We want to tell Mumbaiites that we have to change the system and not just political parties. We have to make urban governance more inclusive for better services,” said Aparna Sundaresan from Free A Billion.