Mumbai: Activists slam three festivals themed on Dahisar river

At least three events centred on the Dahisar river have been organisedmdashtwo by the rival Shiv Sena factions and the third by an educational trustmdashwhile the actual water body one of the cityrsquos four rivers continues to raise a stink as its rejuvenation is moving at a snails paceLocal residents and River March activists have alleged that the festivities are nothing more than publicity gimmicksPoster of the festival coorganised by Abhishek GhosalkarThe River Festival has been organised by Prasad Pimpale and Rohit Bandekar of the Swargandha Pratishthan and the coorganiser of this event is Abhishek Ghosalkar a former Shiv Sena corporator and Uddhav Thackeray loyalist The festival began on Sunday October 22 and will conclude on October 26 Organised near St Louis Church on Yashwantrao Tawde Marg folk dances ras garba nights musical nights and food stalls are the highlights of the festivalAlso Read Mumbai Despite ban barium found in firecrackersThe second event Dahisar River Festival is being organised by Sheetal Mhatre former Sena corporator and spokesperson of the Eknath Shinde faction It also began on October 22 and will end on October 26 It boasts musical shows including a performance by wellknown singer Avdhoot Gupte who himself is a resident of Borivalirsquos Shree Krishna Nagar The event is being held at Bapu Bagwe Marg near Dahisar RiverPoster of the event being celebrated by D G Patil Educational InstituteThe third bash Diwali River Festival is being organised by D G Patil Educational Institute The venue of the event which began on October 24 and will end on October 26 is near Rustomjee School on Raghunath Keskar Road at Dahisar WestClaiming that the festival he is coorganising is the original one while the other two are imitations Ghosalkar said ldquoThe River Festival has been held by the youngsters from Swargandha Pratishthan for the past five years The group comprises 40 youths the majority of them are residents of Mhatre Wadi in Dahisar a locality alongside the river They have been creating awareness among locals through the festival Looking at the popularity the youth has garnered over the years others have jumped in and copied them Since the other two festivals organisers announced grand events and invited popular artistes and these youths do not have any major financial backing I approached them offering my support this yearrdquoAbhishek Ghosalkarl Gopal Jhaveri Sheetal Mhatre and Tejas ShahHe added ldquoThe river work has not stopped Locals would have to bear with the stench from the river almost every day earlier but that has stopped now Beautification work is pending which will start soonrdquoSheetal Mhatre organiser of the Dahisar River Festival told midday ldquoThis is our second year organising this festival We flagged off the Dahisar rejuvenation project last year however for the past year nothing has been done This is one of the examples of why the government has changed The work on river rejuvenation will gain pace under Chief Minister Eknath Shindersquos government Through our festival we have been creating awareness amongst the localsrdquoThe river which flows over 12 kilometres and originates from the spillage water of Tulsi Lake in Sanjay Gandhi National Park ends in Gorai Creek But because of the civic bodyrsquos apathy and the unrestrained encroachment on its banks the water body has been reduced to a sewer where waste from factories and building sites is dumpedAlthough efforts are being made to revitalise and restore the Dahisar Poisar and Mithi there is obviously much more that needs to be done As the city gears up for yet another election Mumbaikars are calling out political parties and local leaders on their unfulfilled promisesldquoOrganising and celebrating festivals will not revive the river Nowhere in these three festivals is there an event related to the river They could have called experts and organised talks for the people There are musical shows and food stalls instead What are these political leaders doing on the ground What work have they done to fasttrack the rejuvenation of the river Now suddenly they wake up during Diwali and want to celebrate the festival on the river Where is the river what is happening to the river none of them know This is just another Diwali eventrdquo said Tejas Shah a resident of Borivli and river rejuvenation activistGopal Jhaveri of River March a citizenrsquos movement to rejuvenate Mumbairsquos rivers termed the festivals politically motivated events ldquoAre they really concerned about rivers Where were all these people all year around These people reside in these areas and hold important portfolios If they wished they could have played an important part in pushing for the rejuvenation of Dahisar and other city rivers The Mumbai civic bodyrsquos plan to rejuvenate these rivers remains on paper Do these people know anything about the river and what is the status of rejuvenationrdquo he asked22The day in October when two of the fests began