Aadhar Pratisthan Reaches Out To Ambedkar Nagar's Fire Hit

Aadhar Pratisthan's President Krishna Pawle reached out with utensils, food and other vital aid to the homeless residents of Ambedkar Nagar which was hit by a fire on November 21st. The catastrophe that rendered thousands homeless has wrecked life for them all. Krishna Pawle with his Aadhar Pratisthan team of volunteers reaches in the time of crisis and...makes a difference!

Banjaras Defeat Colaba PIFA in MANSE Final

Banjara Boys routed Colaba PIFA to win the final of the MANSE football tournament held at Backgardens. Incidentally, Krishna Pawle himself would play for Banjara Boys and has since, been associated with them. He is seen collecting the first prize on behalf of Banjara Boys on winning the final MANSE football tournament.

Banjara Samaj Festival Celebrations

Krishna Pawle organises and sponsors the annual Banjara festival that takes place every Diwali. Here, thousands of Banjaras who belong mostly to the labour class, working in and around Colaba's Ambedkar Nagar even in Sassoon Docks to peel fish, gather to celebrate the festival. On the occasion, hundreds of unmarried Banjara girls worship cowdung, light diyas and dance in wild abandon throughout the stretch from Ambedkar Nagar in Cuffe Parade till Jhulelal Mandir and back. The 35 groups who partake in the celebrations were even awarded 'Best Dancer' and other awards on the occasion. Cash prizes and trophies too were distributed on the day.

New Creations...New Avenues!

Another public space reclaimed...on Dussehra!

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), just a few months back, had come down heavily on shopkeepers who encroach upon footpath in front of their shops. The BMC had even stated back then that shops making alteration on the footpath will have to pay for the restoration work. Minor changes like having a staircase encroaching on the pavement would be demolished by the BMC but major structural changes would have to be paid for by the defaulting shopkeeper.

But it isn’t just shopkeepers and eateries that take over the footpath or other public property, builders and housing societies are known indulge in such practices as well. Extending the boundary walls of the building complex and taking over the adjacent footpath or road are common occurrences. But, a crackdown on such housing societies or builder group is not always an easy thing. The encroachment is done usually so discreetly that it isn't usually noticeable or sometime the civic body looks the other way while the housing society is free to encroach upon.

This attitude of the BMC to look the other way while the housing societies encroach upon is not a new thing. BMC is known to let illegal constructions take place and take action only when there is a complaint. And this blatant ‘ignorance’ got so out of hand at one point that the High Court had to ask the BMC to change its attitude. Last year, around the same time, the High Court pulled up the BMC for its “pick-and-choose” policy on initiating action against illegal structures.

Frustrated by a similar situation in downtown Mumbai, Aadhar Pratishthan’s President, Krishna Pawle had dashed off a letter to the A Ward of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation about encroachments by a DSK Durga Mata Tower and Fitness Five Club in Colaba. In his letter, Pawle spoke of the public garden that had been taken over by the DSK Durga Mata Tower and Fitness Five Club.
He alleged the DSK Durga Mata Tower and Fitness Five Club had kept a security guard at the entry gate and the general public was prohibited from entering the garden and when asked, the guard is quick to point out that the property was a private property.

The letter states that even though there is a board mentioned ‘the said piece of land is reserved as R.G. and is open for public,’ the board is not put in a manner where general public can see. It has been placed behind bamboo bushes thereby preventing public from reading it.

The BMC following the complaint and a site visit to the venue wrote back saying that the "objections raised by complainant were agreeable," and instructed the Chairman / Secretary of DSK Durgamata Tower Coop Housing Society Ltd to open the said R.G for general public in unrestricted by disciplined manner and display the board showing timings at a conspicuous location and send compliance report to this office within a period of 15 days from receipt of the letter failing which action deemed fit would be initiated.

Krishna Pawle with members of the public at large entered the Recreation Ground on Dussehra - October 13th in a symbolic win of the people to reclaim what is rightfully theirs.

Here go the letters of correspondence pasted below...please click, download, read and distribute freely!

You could be fined for fishing, even land in jail!

Making a living might just become a tough task for the fisherfolk in cities and fishing villages alike, if the proposed amendment in the Wildlife Protection Amendment Bill 2013 gets accepted in the Parliament.
Three national conservation organisations have given their suggestions asking for changes in the proposed Wildlife Protection Amendment Bill, 2013 after it was put up for public to give their suggestions and opinions. The bill has been introduced in the Rajya Sabha in the current session.
Wildlife Protection Society of India, Aaranyak and Wildlife Society of Orissa, the three national conservation organisations, fear that if the amendment in passed in the parliament it would cost lakhs of fishermen their livelihood.
According to the provisions of Wildlife Protection Act 1972, the ‘wild animals’ that are listed in the Schedule I to VI are the only ones offered protection from hunting, trade and possession.
In the proposed amendment, Section 2 (j) of the bill proposes to change the definition of the wild animal to any animal specified in Schedules I to IV or found wild in nature. The term ‘animal’ is defined very broadly in Section 2(1) of the act to include mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, other chordates and invertebrates and also their young and eggs.
This would mean that all the animals found wild in nature will be considered wild animals under the proposed act. And, accordingly, all the fishes, other than the farm bred fishes, will be considered wild animals and will come under the purview of law. This has raised concerns and the wildlife workers believe that if the amendment bill is accepted as is, it may turn the practice of fishing in natural wetlands in the country into an offence under the Wildlife (Protection) Act.
So, together these conservation groups have filed a memorandum for removal of Section 44 of the Wildlife Protection Act Amendment Bill 2013 through the joint director of Rajya Sabha directorate asking to withdraw the Section 44 of the amendment bill.
According to Section 44 this section, excluding the fishes produced through systematic farming, all fish species found in the natural environment will be considered as wildlife species.
And if the amendment gets accepted, only those businessmen possessing licenses from the Chief Wildlife Warden will be able to catch fish in wetlands and sell the same. Furthermore, it will be considered an offence under the Wildlife (Protection) Act if fish is procured from unlicensed traders and even cooking of such fish. Such a violation will lead to imposition of fine up to Rs 25,000 and jail term up to three years.

Organised a rehearsal for Gokulashthami (Dahi Handi)

Krishna Pawle organised a Dahi Handi rehearsal on August 20th at Cuffe Parade where scores of children participated in the countdown to Gokulashthami - Colaba's most loved festival. Incidentally, five-year-old Tanuja Suresh Thange of Sai Shraddha Mitra Mandal too participated at the event which was thronged with enthusiasts from all over Colaba.

Here go a few snapshots

In The Dock

In The Dock - a DraftCraft Initiative - documents the travails of a section of the lakhs of Banjaras, Kolis, Kannadigas, Tamilians and North Indians residing in South Mumbai's slums, whose lives are fully dependent on Sassoon Docks. 
The documentary on the subject, issued in Public Interest, is a bona fide attempt to document the agony of the migrant labour. A monsoon closure of the Docks, as is a norm, sends everyone dependent on the place for a living, scurrying for alternate means of living during the period, year after year. 
Should Sassoon Docks close down for good, as is widely feared will be the outcome of a series of litigations, it will be a sheer disaster for the poorest of poor working at one of Mumbai's oldest docks.
Here...see...

Inauguration of Sassoon Docks official website!

On August 15th 2013, Krishna Pawle inaugurated sassoondocks.com at Sassoon Docks through after his Octogenarian father Nivrutti Pawle whose life has been closely associated with the docks. This has been the latest among Krishna Pawle's string of initiatives towards the cause of Sassoon Docks and its people.

Following a short docu-film on Sassoon Docks that provided versions of those affected adversely by an imminent closure of the Docks activities and spoke of how lakhs of lives are interlinked with Sassoon Docks, Krishna Pawle addressed a teeming crowd of workers, godown owner even Banjaras. After all, everyone had a stake at Sassoon Docks.

The website, initiated and owned by Krishna Pawle, is an attempt to create an 'official' version of Sassoon Docks to counter those hundreds of claims that are damaging to the reputation - both locally and overseas - of Sassoon Docks and associated activities.

Nivrutti Pawle inaugurating the website

Krishna Pawle addressing the crowd on the need for the website

Thousands hear Krishna Pawle speak of the industry and travails associated.

The crowds watched the docu-film 'In The Dock' attentively.

We Did It!

Colaba's Backgardens, under direct threat from a local politician, risked extinction. In its place was planned a swimming pool, apparently for the elite and rich. Which slum child could afford to pay to swim? Not many. It was widely feared that Colaba would lose its one and only ground. After all, every child of Colaba had played football here or taken part in a sports activity through his/her school. It was of little wonder then that all the schools in Colaba pooled in their resources and through Krishna Pawle of Aadhar Pratisthan, took up the issue of reclaiming Backgardens. The ground was, after a huge struggle, reclaimed for its original cause. In commemoration, a series of football matches were organised by Aadhar Pratisthan, in memory of Colaba resident and renowned footballer Late Bandya Kakade.

It’s KIDS United vs BMC over Colaba garden

By Gajanan Khergamker

Eighteen-year-old Tejas Krishna Raut who lives at Colaba Market refused to let the heat bog him down last weekend. After all it was for a cause…a cause he believed in more than anything else in the world. “Saving Backgarden” as the triangular Wellington Garden located between Campion and St Anne’s School is known, topped his list of priorities on a weekend that he would otherwise have willingly spent sleeping.



Tejas has been playing for Premier India Football Academy (PIFA) for some time now and last weekend joined in with a whopping 1,000 who came to either watch or participate in the 28 Under-16 teams playing football in a Colaba Junior Football Championship tournament as a rundown to Children’s Day. That the prizes were Hero cycles and Samsung mobiles weren’t as important as the cause itself. Most of the children who played at the ground had been playing there for years on end and had one thing in common: They were all playing to “save the ground” from being forced by the civic authorities to accommodate a swimming pool and a parking lot.



It is widely feared that Colaba’s Sabina Chandrashekhar Memorial Municipal Garden and Playground, formerly called Wellington Gardens, that has been used by almost every child in Colaba, particularly during his or her growing years, risks being ‘turned into a swimming pool.’
Opposing a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation proposal to build a swimming pool, in the garden, the football-crazed children of old Mumbai’s Colaba finally decided to take things in their own hands. Supported by a local social NGO, Aadhar Pratisthan, the players wore multi-hued T-Shirts, all of which bore ‘Save Backgarden. No Swimming Pool’ as they partook in the Colaba Junior Football Championship, playing with fervor like never before. This time around, it was for a collective cause - to save a neighbourhood playground.



Parents of children studying in Colaba schools, including Campion, Holy Name and St Anne’s, have been fervently opposing the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) proposal to build a swimming pool in the garden that these schools have been using as their playground.
Presently the garden is being maintained by four schools and is used by several others. Open to the public for fixed hours during the week, the ground is thrown open for longer hours on weekends. Now, it is also used by Pavement School, a charity project for slum and street children.



The Colaba Junior Football Championship tournament which was supported by PIFA Colaba FC had over 1,000 children either participating or watching the matches in a tournament organized to bring about awareness of the potential threat of plans to build a swimming pool and a parking lot in ‘the only public football garden in Colaba.’



The final match was played between PIFA Colaba FC and Oscar Foundation at the occasion, which was attended by dignitaries such as Bandiya Kakade, Souter Vaz (WIFA – Hon Sec), Surinder Karkera (Founder of Bipin Memorial), Akhil Ansari, Faroukh Ahmed, Arshad Hussain and Shabbirbhai all prominent football personalities. PIFA Colaba FC won the tournament beating Oscar. The guest of honour was Suhas Khamkar Mr Asia (Body Building).



Timeline

2004
Proposal to construct a swimming pool was abandoned after protests from schools.

2009
Talk of constructing a swimming pool in the ground. A Right to Information application revealed there was a plan to build a swimming pool.

2011
The BMC pasted notices on six trees in the playground saying that they will be felled to make way for a swimming pool. The swimming pool will take up only a portion of the garden and the rest would remain a playground claimed the BMC.
Point
There apparently is a valid demand for a swimming pool in the area as the nearest municipal pool is only at Dadar, offered Corporator Vinod Shekhar, whose ward has jurisdiction over the garden. There are swimming pools in hotels and private clubs, but no municipal pool in the area, feels Shekhar.

Counterpoint
Aadhar Pratishthan President, Krishna Pawle, feels that the children of Colaba need to have the ground for themselves and any move to compromise that will be dealt with firmly. If the residents want to swim, there are umpteen swimming pools where enthusiasts can indulge easily.