Amruta Fadnavis leads River March in Dahisar; no concrete steps to rejuvenate river in sight yet

Amruta Fadanvis with MLA Ram Kadam, Manisha Chaudhari at River March at Dahisar River on Sunday. (Express Photo by Dilip Kagda)

“When I went to see the rivers I was so upset as there was everything in it other than water. This is something that Mumbai has lost, but it is still not too late and we can still change it. You have everything with you day and you only have to come together to clean it. The city has mountains, mangroves, beaches and rivers. Yet it is not the number one destination in the world. On Shiv Jayanti let us take a vow and walk with Mumbai to bring the change. Have confidence in yourself and the world will change,” she said while speaking at the event.

Also present at the event, BJP MLA Ram Kadam added to the emotional appeal by adapting a Veer Savarkar quote. “With support or without support from the people and despite the criticism we will clean our rivers,” he said. After the CM and his wife were embroiled in a controversy for featuring in a music video urging people to help clean Mumbai rivers, Gopal Jhaveri, organiser of the River March, appealed to the public to not politicise the movement.

“We have been releasing songs for the River March for the last three years now. However we have seen a lot of talk around it in the last 10 days. River March is not an NGO but a public movement, so do not politicise it. The river belongs to us not the forest department, the municipal corporation or the state government. We can see what is happening in Cape Town today, tomorrow it will be in Bangalore and then in Mumbai. We need to save it,” he said.

Titled ‘Mumbai River Anthem’ the video also featured Forests Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta and Mumbai Police Commissioner Datta Padsalgikar. However it was condemned by environmentalists saying it showed hypocrisy on the part of the CM. It was also slammed by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena saying that it exposed the government’s double standards on environmental causes. “Why did the CM not remember Mumbai’s rivers while he took decision to legalise illegal slums along the rivers if the huts were constructed until 2011. It shows his double standards,” Nitin Sardesai, an MNS leader, had said.

The River March aims to rejuvenate the four rivers of the city -Dahisar, Poisar, Oshiwara and Mithi. However even after four marches the condition of these rivers remains unchanged. While the march brought many people together for the cause no action plan to save the river was discussed. “The BMC has appointed consultants to look into the river’s rejuvenation. We have raised awareness among the people. Now we will not organise a march from next year the people will themselves take it forward,” added Jhaveri.

For many participants the March gave hope of seeing a clean Dahisar river in the coming days. “We live right next to the Dahisar river and are directly affected by its pollution. The tabelas around the river contribute to its deterioration. We will first have to move them out to clean the river,” said Hitesh Dave, a Borivali resident.

However many participants remained doubtful of the movement’s success. “The first step of creating awareness has been done. Now that the people have been brought together some concrete steps need to be taken to rejuvenate the river. Otherwise we will keep having these marches everywhere and this will do nothing for the river,” said one of the participants at the rally.

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