Mumbai: AA stall popular with visitors to Chaityabhoomi

At Chaityabhoomi a mix of retirees including some who were sanitation workers with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC have set up an Alcoholics Anonymous AA stall It has attracted about 500 to 600 individuals since December 4The stall will be operational till December 7 Approximately six lakh people make their annual pilgrimage to Chaityabhoomi on Dr Babasaheb Ambedkarrsquos death anniversary A large banner with the kicker lsquoDaru liquor in Marathirsquo followed by lsquoDo you wish to stop alcohol consumptionrsquo and a few people sitting on chairs with pamphlets and notebooks are enough to catch the attention of the crowd ldquoWe do not need to call people towards us The success of our programme depends on how willing someone is to quit drinking Those who are willing come walking to us just by looking at these bannersrdquo said 60yearold Jaipal a Buddhist priest and retired BEST worker who has been involved in AA since 2001 Like thousands of AA volunteers he was an alcoholicJaipal Buddhist priest and AA volunteerAA functions on the back of recovered alcoholics like him who conduct daily or weekly meetings and narrate their stories of addiction and their struggle towards recovery to newly joined alcoholicsAt least 17 such meetings are held every day across the city This stall at Chaityabhoomi has been up and running for more than a decade ldquoWe still call ourselves alcoholics even though many of us sitting here had our last sip of liquor about twenty years agordquo he saidAlcoholism and sanitationLike Jaipal Shreedhar considers himself an alcoholic and joined AA in 1999 he hasnrsquot had a sip since 2005 having relapsed twice in the fiveyear span before that ldquoI started working as a sanitation worker with BMC in the 1980s We used to do all the work with our bare hands picking up the cityrsquos garbage with nothing to cover our noserdquo he said adding that he used to drink alcohol even before that but the nature of his work drove him to severe alcoholism ldquoI was a permanent staff member and the situation with my work became better after 2000 and the municipality started providing us with safety gearrdquo he saidAA volunteer Jaipal interacts with pilgrims at the stall at Chaityabhoomi on WednesdayHowever many sanitation workers often belonging to Scheduled Caste communities still lack proper safety measures particularly those engaged in nullah or septic tank cleaning a practice known as manual scavenging which is illegal across the country The nature of the work commonly drives people to alcoholismIn Mumbai according to Jan Haq Sangharsh Samitirsquos survey 250 sanitation workers are working on a contractual basis with the BMC but the actual figure could be as high as 10000 according to its estimatesThe responsibility of ensuring safety mechanisms is delegated to the hiring contractors who frequently neglect this obligationChandrakant Ahire a 21yearold resident of ManmadNotably Jaipal said that while there are highrisk groups and socioeconomic situations play a role alcoholism is a disease and like any disease it crosses classcastereligiongender lines ldquoFor us everyone is the same and everyone is an alcoholic who needs supportrdquo he saidAnother AA volunteer at the stall said the support group celebrates birthdays differently ldquoA person is born again when they join AA that date becomes their birthdayrdquo he saidHope for a changeAt the stall alcoholics and their relatives were seen asking questions to the volunteers on how their support group functions ldquoDo you provide any medicinesrdquo asked one manTo every visitor the volunteers first ask a few basic questions the first being who are they seeking help for And then with the help of pamphlets the volunteers help the visitors navigate to the closest AA meeting spot in their city or villageldquoWe note down their names and numbers and notify our volunteers about their details who then reach out to themrdquo Jaipal said adding that the purpose of AA is to make alcoholics and their families find hope for a better life againChandrakant Ahire a 21yearold resident of Manmad visited Chaityabhoomi on December 6 as a pilgrim Just as he was exiting the spot he noticed the AA centre set up in one corner ldquoMy father used to drive an ambulance in Mumbai ten years ago This is where he became addicted to alcohol and continues to drink in excess even nowrdquo he saidWhile he has seen such lsquovyasan muktirsquo centres back in his village he never dared to visit them for his father ldquoFor the first time my father and I will be having a conversation about his habit Many at this stall were from our community and these details were taken from Chaityabhoomi on December 6 so I am hoping that will motivate him to seek helprdquo he said1999Year Shreedhar joined AAScuffle over taking auto to DadarA misunderstanding led to a heated exchange between Ambedkarites and traffic cops near Sion junction on Wednesday afternoon A group of Ambedkarites travelling in an auto to pay tribute to Dr Ambedkar in Dadar where autos are not allowed were halted by traffic police The issue was ultimately resolved and the followers were redirected to busesThe Mumbai Policersquos traffic department had issued advisories for Wednesday announcing potential road closures in case of congestion implementing oneway routes and restricting parking on several roadsldquoAutos werenrsquot permitted within city limits so they were stoppedrdquo a traffic officer said ldquoThere were some altercations but we eventually resolved itrdquo The incident caused a significant traffic jam for nearly an hourldquoDespite the incident tactful intervention by traffic cops minimised the congestionrdquo said Pravin Padwal joint commissioner traffic