Maha’s ‘cycle samaritan’ pedals away to solve citizens’ issues

By Quaid Najmi Kolhapur, Dec 27 : At sharp 7 a.m. everyday, Kolhapur Municipal Corporation’s (KMC) Deputy Mayor Sanjay Mohite of the Congress exits his home, breathes the fresh morning air, hops onto his bicycle and starts on a brisk round of the tiny Sykes Extension Ward in this erstwhile royal town in western Maharashtra.
The Congress leader’s two-hour daily routine is unchanged for over five years to serve his 6,000-plus constituents, many hurrying for their morning chores like buying milk, bread or vegetables, many nodding their heads, while others greeting with ‘Namaste’ or ‘Good Morning’, irrespective of the season.
At one corner of a main road, the soft-spoken Mohite, 60, espies a group of worried citizens and stops his bicycle to enquire about their concerns.
One of them points to a roadside drain and informs how since last evening it has got choked, stinking and on the verge of overflowing onto the roads, not a pleasant sight in what is supposed to be a former proud royal kingdom of the Chhatrapatis of Kolhapur.
“I immediately call up the concerned persons in the KMC, wait till they sent a team and ensure the work is completed as soon as possible. Occasionally, it can even take more time, so I follow it up regularly till the matter is resolved,” Mohite told IANS.
Then, Mohite pedals away to resolve the next problems, the nuisance of some uncollected garbage bins, at times water issues, minor road repair works, blank streetlights, et al.