Mithi Walk (Durga Guddilu)

Mithi Walk

Director: Durga Guddilu

Duration: 02:58:02; Aspect Ratio: 1.778:1; Hue: 70.217; Saturation: 0.030; Lightness: 0.437; Volume: 0.348; Cuts per Minute: 13.447; Words per Minute: 58.702

We are going to start the Mithi Yatra with a small discourse, to have a very auspicious beginning to this peoples program, swamiji will talk to us and we will also request Rajendra Singh to put in a few words before we move from this place. We have two buses which are sitting across the road. People who have transport can find out where exactly we are going to be at the next point. The buses are going to carry us to the Kurla Crematorium, the bail bazaar crematorium. All those with their own transport can check with me. We will figure where to park the cars, etc. So over to swamiji.
Mithi River

Hello. Hari Om.
I am very happy to know that all of you are working for the purification and upkeep of Mithi River. It has been in the culture of Indians to worship nature. In the morning when we worship,we regard Earth as our mother, water as a god and river as goddess. So it is in our blood, in our tradition to express gratitude towards whomsoever that gives us. Our culture has flourished on the banks of rivers. All our cities and towns you can see, they have all grown on the banks of different rivers. So we have had rivers in our culture. We have a tradition of Narmada Pradakshina, where all of Narmada is circumambulated. The Ganga is regarded as a mother. God has said in Gita that if we disrespect earth and water then we would not be worthy to live in nature. sanskrit saying. It means that we should not regard water only as H2O but regard it as a form of god. With this attitude when we look at our mountains or rivers we worship them otherwise we try to exploit them. So this has been our culture. And it is a pity that there is so much pollution and that the balance (of nature) is getting so spoilt that everything in nature is getting polluted. The air contains so many impurities. The water in rivers has become so spoilt and poisonous that you cannot touch you cannot drink. Krishna got rid of Kaliya Nag from the Jamuna(Yamuna) river. Kaliya Nag is nothing but...it represents poison, pollution. So his slaying of Kaliya Nag represents the purification of the Yamuna river. So our safety lies in us protecting this very big and important component/factor of nature - water. It is being said that the next war will be fought for water. A country we ample quantity of water will be considered powerful. So such will be the scenario. That is why it is our duty to protect whatever resources of water - lakes, rivers, seas. And if we do this then definitely it is a great service to god. It is said that the sun and the moon are the eyes of god, the mountains her bones, trees and plants her (?) and these rivers are like veins. These rivers of water are a life sustaining element just like the blood which flows in our bodies. That is why it is very good that your are involved in this work and my best wishes to all of you. Thank you.

By coming to Bombay I feel like as if Bombay is a haven of terrorists. This new terror is the terror of development. Greater the development, deadlier the terror acts get. If Bombay is considered the land of development then it is also the biggest fort of terrorists. The deadliest of terrorists live here, whether they are religions' terrorists, natures' terrorists, educations' terrorists or any random persons' terrorists or whether they are terrorists with guns. If we want to finish off terrorism, then the eradication of terrorism can only occur when we join earth, nature and rivers. The governments that are supporting terrorism are trying to implement huge programs such interlinking rivers and with that bring about displacement and bring about change and also bring about destruction. If you want to protect yourselves from this terror then integrate your mind and heart with Mithi, which is a small river. When a persons mind and heart is integrated with rivers she doesn't think about terror, she thinks about nature. So if you want to integrate your mind with nature then integrate your body and soul with Mithi river, give your heart away. Only when our hearts are with Mithi river can we put a stop to the job these new terrorists of Bombay, who through development want to create a new form of terrorism, kill with guns and scare and threaten, of spreading fear. Fear is the biggest terror of all. Either it terrorises someone else or it itself gets terrorised. It leads to one of the roads. So we, by integrating our soul and body with nature, with Mithi river, show the rest of the society that there were 20-30 people - some youngsters, some adults, some elders - who resurrected a small river. If we resurrect this Mithi river than in Bombay a lot of the big terrorists that are there, their hearts will melt a little. They will see that this is also a model which creates man and through which nature and earth is created.

So today I would only like to say is that to protect ourselves from developments' this very displacing, changing, and destroying form of terrorism, we should do this small work, which is very doable, it is worth doing and it is not something so difficult that it cannot be achieved. I am saying this only after I have, in my 25 years long career, resurrected 7 rivers which are bigger than Mithi. They are not smaller than Mithi. (?) river is many times bigger than Mithi. This work can be done. But this work only gets done when you put your heart and soul into it. So if we are making this journey, it should be to integrate our minds with Mithi river. Only then will our mind (?). Then we can take up small jobs. Remember only small jobs give you pleasure, peace and prosperity. Big jobs bring about change and destruction. So we should not take up big jobs rather take up small jobs which are achievable. The person who does the work of saving water is guards the heavens. So this Mithi river is a source of water, is a zarna* of water. If we keep this zarna of water clean, and can think or do something or take a decision as to how to resurrect this river, then I would be very pleased. I would feel that i came to Bombay, in the midst of big terrorists and was able to eradicate terrorism, which only you and I can do. Governments will never be able to eradicate terrorism, on the contrary they fuel terrorism. Through many ways they fuel terrorism. If anyone can finish off terrorism it's you all. So in my opinion the work on Mithi river will help to destroy terrorism.

For the last 15 years we have been telling people that this is Mithi river, even though it is recorded as a gutter in a lot of the government records. All our ideals be them that of our culture, human beings or of nature because of a wrong concept, direction and wrong intentions is in danger. In short we are all in danger. And we have reached the last point. If this Mithi river gets completely polluted or its' course is obstructed, as we will see today, or closed like the Bandra-Kurla complex or Worli-Bandra Sealink. If they ,in the name of commerce, with the intent development and advancement, literally bury the river and build the National Stock Exchange, then it gives out a very scary signal about what impact can infrastructure have on our future. When we were asked "why did we invite Rajendra Singh" it saddened us that in this country Rajendra Singh and his connection is still unknown to us. We feel very sad about this. Other than him who can we call anyone else? Why shouldn't we call? Water everywhere is interlinked. Human beings and all living species are interlinked. When he works in Rajasthan and rehabilitates not just humans but also all living species, he works for the whole world not just for Rajasthan. We feel very sad for the narrow vision that we have ended up having. At the time when he is resurrecting rivers there, one river here is displaying the same trends that 50 years ago rivers there were showing, and of them the ones that have reached a critical state are the ones in Mumbai and cities similar to that. And the result is this river which is mentioned in history text 850 - 900 years ago and names such as Andheri, Kondivita, Sahar, Kalina, Bandra is the same in the 900 year old history. The very river that has given these areas its shape and name, the same river we have in 30 - 40 years turned it in poison*
That is why he, who is resurrecting there, had to come here. I feel that we have called Rajendra Singh a little too late. Today we would like to start a new era - be it the flood or the terrorist attacks, all of them are interlinked.
And if we have to stop this country from heading towards (?) and we have to stop it. People say that (?) will come. We don't want (?) to come. If we have to stop it then we have to link the people who are working in villages and rural India, we are going to call Anna Hazare, today he has gone to Marathwada that is why he could not come, he will be coming end of this month. So them and this society, that is in a dreamy state and has become numb, we have to wake them and link the two. And we are looking at this linking from a global point of view and no just local point of view.

And if we have to stop this country from heading towards (?) and we have to stop it. People say that (?) will come. We don't want (?) to come. If we have to stop it then we have to link the people who are working in villages and rural India, we are going to call Anna Hazare, today he has gone to Marathwada that is why he could not come, he will be coming end of this month. So them and this society, that is in a dreamy state and has become numb, we have to wake them and link the two. And we are looking at this linking from a global point of view and no just local point of view.
This area that you see right here, it is a hilly region and it is the upper part of the Mithi river. As you can see that there are buildings even in these forests. Even on the Powai lake they have built the Renaissance Hotel. Here there is a beautification scheme, costing 40 crores, that has been taken up by the municipal corporation. We don't know how they were given permission to do this. We have taken an objection. So that is going on....here there is Hiranandani Complex that has been built by destroying hills from which a river used to originate, which met the Mithi river at Kurla, Safed Pool. They have destroyed the whole hill range. So today our effort is to explain why the floods happened and it's relation to the growth patterns of this city. So now we will go ahead to the spots mentioned in the itinerary and have discussions at every place. And please come to the meeting at 4:30 and bring others to if you can. His presentation would be the Key note and there will also be exchange of ideas. So please do come.

....begins with the 1st step. I think this is a very symbolic occasion. This tour that we are taking of the Mithi river will probably take the shape of what we citizens need to take into our own hands do. This is the beginning. People were asking,'Where does Mithi river originate?' Let me give you a small piece of information. This hill behind Hiranandani and all the hills that you can see around you, this area is called a catchment area. And the water that overflows from Powai and Vihar lake is known as the source of Mithi river. And the main reason for the floods in 2005 that we witnessed in Bombay is the huge amounts of water that flowed in the Mithi river. And everyone was cursing the Mithi river. Let me tell you something, the water that used to take 6 months to percolate and enter Powai lake, now, due to the absence of this hill takes just 6 hours. And because this water comes so suddenly that is why it overflows. This was the basic reason for the floods in Mumbai. From here we shall make a move to the next point, Kurla Crematorium, by bus. So come along, you have all had tea, if there is some remaining then have some more.

Those with cars ask me about the route so that all of us can be together so that we reach the destination at around the same time. There is parking at the Bail Bazaar crematorium....
Smile...
This is a serious matter, about water, do not laugh....

.....Nobody realised that due to the water pressure that the gates won't open. And this happens at a lot of places in Bombay.

Now here we have come to the 2nd point in the Mithi river tour....
Keep it a little low, its better if it is not too close to the mic. Enough...not to far.
I would like to thank the sensitive people of Bombay, who have come here with the faith that after this event about rivers and water, and the experience of being with Rajendra Singh, we can try to save (?). Now what we can see is that the Mithi river comes in from this direction. We came from the Powai, which is the northern part of the river, from there the river comes in here. It's flow is meeting just ahead of the truck. The point is that in the general understanding of progress and development, the existence of aeroplanes for transportation and the airports are regarded as an epitome of success. The point is what we are doing while achieving this success. This river, which has been supporting us for ages, was obstructed at this point, the point just ahead. A wall was erected in front of the river. You can see that it's natural flow was diverted at almost a 90 degree angle. And it was forced to flow in that direction and take a U-turn from there to move out, which changed its zig-zag course, which was natural and made it flow from this point towards Air India colony.

So this point played a very crucial role in this incident. A few months before the 26th July incident, the area near the Lal Bahadur Shastri Road, that was available for the water to overflow into, was fully filled up with stones. The locals will be knowing about this. When the wall was constructed in '90, for the 1st time there was a flood in '91. Here (?) is standing who is a resident of this area who was helped by a lot of people and children from nearby localities. Here, in this area, around 50 or more drowned to death in the flood. The water came down hill and and hit the wall with such a force that it created an explosion like sound. And immediately after that within moments the whole area was drowned. No one even understood what had happened. This wall broke and the whole airport was flooded. Now the thing is that when the flood happened in '91 and this area was filled up a few months before the flood. It's common sense what would happen next. Due to the concretisation drive the water runs on the surface. As we go ahead we will see what happened and we will go and see what happened in Air India colony. Even there around 50-100 people drowned to death. The main point is that what is going onto solve this problem. We can see that they are constructing concrete walls, huge walls. And it has come to our notice that they are going to shift the river, which is flowing in that direction, to this side and would be forced to flow in between these concrete walls and the airport would be expanded. It is our opinion that we must try and undo and retreat. All this while we were going against nature so we should take a step back instead of discriminating it more in the name of solutions. We too are going to be threatened by this. And to construct concrete walls and force the river to flow through it, which is considered to be a great engineering feat, we are of the opinion that it is wrong and that it is going to worsen* this problem. This is our inference. Now how this (?)
because whenever approach a problem they see only one part of it. And thus they declare, 'Yes, This the solution.'. What people are not able to understand is what can happen in this geographical area due to this. So I have tried to give some information about this. We are short of time as we have to observe everything. And now some of the locals will talk.

....the people covered this area. In '91 the wall that stood there, fell down and all the water hit the bank hit the wall and this whole area got flooded. On 26th July it was flooded up to the 1st floor in this whole region. The reason for this is simply that here there are two places at which the river takes a 90 degree turn. Because of which there is (?) and those are all technical stuff so leave that. But the course of the water meets this area. When Tata built an airstrip there they made a provision for the water to flow from underneath the ground, thus they did not change the course of the river. What these people have done, is try to change the course of the river. This is against the nature. Had they done the same and had kept the old wall, the river would have flown straight. Only the depth/width of this should be increased, that's it.

The terror of development terrorises us, saddens us. The terror act is that, here you can see that the amount of money is spent on iron, concrete and cement is used for redirecting this river. If this money, if the river had to flow on this course then by planting good trees on both sides that respects the local flora and fauna a good natural wall of trees can be constructed that can divert the river. I have never opposed the diversion of a rivers course. But if we use and respect natural means and methods and use them for our development then nobody gets destroyed, nobody gets terrorised, nobody is scared, "we have to live with nature". But these methods...if you have money that's fine. If you want to spend money, pocket half of it, that's fine. But please don't destroy this. The underground accuforce* of this, our jyotshiji* will tell us where, how it affects it when there is too much meddling with it. How much it affects the underground accuforce* when you construct a new structure of concrete and cement. This meddling that we are doing, this is terrorism that is terrorising us in name of development. Maybe you would have thought my opinions to be a bit bitter. But my opinions are bitter because we, without knowing nature, come directly in the path of natures' destruction. This is her path of destruction. So how we, together, can by putting our heads together how we can stop this is a big challenge. Today evening we can talk as to what are the ways. It feels very good that I was brought here to see this which confirms what I have been saying in the morning is this, this terrorises our mind and body.

There is a big advertisement in the Free Press Journal by the Tree Authority stating that they are going to cut 1200 trees. Out of that I think 570, I'll have confirm the exact number in and around Mithi River and for I think an access road and building the wall. So if all of us together float an idea to build a boundary of trees because trees slow down the storm water and avoid flooding. Thank you.

Excuse me...
We are now proceeding to the bus. All those who have come by car and bus we will now go to Air India colony. When you go down LBS Marg, take a right turn at Kalpana Talkies. After that we go along this Mithi river and take a left turn at the corner of the Air India colony. Please take the left turn and park somewhere around the gate.
Those who are travelling with their own vehicles will walk to the (?). So we will all meet at the Air India Colony. We will make a small concession. On the way there is a place (?) and have a look at the Mithi on both sides.

There is no hint of flow of the water.

This Air India Colony/ Indian Airlines Colony had to go through an ordeal in 26th July 2005 that they would have never had dreamed of. And it was such a big jolt in which a lot of people lost their lives. Due to which the people of Mumbai are thinking and having discussions so that such an calamity should not occur. Regarding this matter we have called Rajendra Singh from Rajasthan. Rajendra Singh, who has in the desert region of Rajasthan where rain falls around 4-5 cms we get close to 80-100 cms of rainfall. In that region where rivers had dried up.....

Namshkar. My name is (?) and I am a resident of Indian Airline Colony/Air India Colony. These days a lot is being said and discussed about the Mithi river. But 4 years ago in 2005 when the calamity occurred nobody had come. I am sorry I have had to say this but no one had come that time, Only the (?) had come to help us. That's ok we are very happy that you all have come. But the problem that we are facing today is not only because of the Mithi river but also because of the drainage system. The main problem of the the Air India Colony is the drainage. So we appreciate the initiative that you are taking for the Mithi river but if you give some time to address the drainage problem we would be very obliged. Thank you.

....but I am very unhappy that you said that, back then no one came. But even I want to point out that even today not everyone of the colony is present here. Instead of taking up a cause, because they like to sit at home on a Sunday. Although there may be bitterness in what I say but I have nothing but love in my heart. But we have been working to prevent this flood since around 1995, when they constructed a wall at the Bail Bazaar crematorium. In your Colony, Air India colony, the small holes that were there for water flow were too small is a fact that we had informed a year ago that. And we kept saying that this flood will come. Wait.. this is not about arguing with one another. We had also informed people that they were filling up the place near Kalpana theatre. After that let me tell you that when they had built a dam on Mahim Causeway and they were narrowing the causeway we had said that the effects of this dam will reach here because the delta region of Mithi river extends till here. There were Mangrove forests here earlier. Our fight to remove the dam lasted close to 4 years. In 1999 when they were they started at Bandra reclamation then we pushed even harder. We held on to the issue and 50 of us also got arrested. Then it was told to (?). And it was proved that what the authorities were claiming was wrong. What they said was that it was 400 feet deep and the president of the the fisherman went to that spot and came to the conclusion it was very dangerous. And that these reports were all false. That dam was removed in the month of march before the flood. We knew this fact for sure that if there is above average rainfall then Bombay will drown. We even had interviews over this. Twice we had interviews on E-TV and we had explained in full detail that such a flood is going to come, in such and such areas the scene would be dangerous. The filling that was taking place in the name of Worli-Bandra Sea link where the water of Mithi River, which flows from National Park, Borivali to Lower Parel/ Dadar T.T, from Wadala to Arya Samaj, Santa Cruz - 70 % of Mumbais' geographical area, was closing the Mahim Bay completely. The agitation the we undertook lasted 2 and a half years from August '99. Finally we had to take 50 boats freedom fighters such as (?) and (?) came with us and all the masses came. We went and positioned our boats right under the big stones, which were close to 1 Tonne each, which were being lowered into the sea. Had those stones fallen on us we would have been finished. We did this because we knew that Bombay will drown, a 100% it will drown. We people called us crazy. In broad day light (?) said that these are crazy people then I realised that what was happening. I am saying this with all my heart that don't say such things. What is going on now is happening under the pretence of development. And we are looking at this from a very broad outlook. That's exactly what I'm saying. Wait...wait. In this broad outlook your point of view is also correct.

Good Morning everybody, I am the president of the Air India colony residents association. I would like to clarify what he said. Basically the statement what he wanted to make was not for 2005 but for 1991. 1991, the 1st time water came in the houses was 1991. We lost all the furniture over here. In fact no lives were lost but furniture were lost totally. Then in 1997 again we had the same problem. 2000 again we had the same problem. Its not that it has come in 2005. Only in 2005 it came in a big way and people came to know about it. Otherwise we are suffering here from 1991 onwards. That is what the people have not realised and have not thought about it. Even I think so in 2005 when the group of (?) had come over here (?), I had gone and met them. I had spoken to them. I had given them the ideas how it can come out. I said to them please free the catchment area over here which is the whole airport area but that has been taken over by the airport because that's gone to private now its not a government body. MIAL has got only one thing whatever land is there to capture the land because they have to get the money back. It was given on a platter to them by the government itself. It was (?) that these catchment areas were ponds for us. The pond in Kalina has been there for 40-60 years. Since my childhood I have seen that pond but now there is no pond. That is what we have to fight for. That is the catchment area. When the rain falls the water has to go somewhere. Unless and until we get the catchment areas, sorry the rain will go into the houses only. That is what we have got to stop. My friend what he wanted to say was '91 but made a mistake and said 2005. Sorry Mr.Rai you should not feel hurt by what he said. (?) that is what we are suffering over here. Thanks to everyone who has come forward. So many people have come forward to (?) but unfortunately even after 2005 also there is water filling over here. (?) after 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008....

The original course of the water has been diverted
The ground floor flats are getting flood the staff and residents are having problem as Mr (?) just said.
Our demand is that you all along Rajendra Singh along with Mithi river, pay attention Kalina pond, where the water used to collect and the water would flow from Resham Singh* nala and meet the Mithi river. So we have been working towards this. We thank you all for your time and that Rajendra Singh gave his time. Now we shall head to Kalina pond. Thank You.

Look down and walk carefully....Come to the left side....Form a single line.
Where is the megaphone? Kids go and play cricket.
So this, where we are standing, is Kalina pond. And Kalina pond is around 400 years old.....
Its older than that, its a natural pond.
Its a natural pond. Just for 4-5 minutes let me talk then you can speak. So this is a 400 year old pond and covered a region of 700 acres. And in Kalina the rainwater that used to collect continuously, would divert this way get stored and then, here there is a Resham Singh nala, flow towards Resham Singh nala. In 1970 the collector gave the order to fill this pond up, to fill it with mud. And here....
And here the Resham Singh nala that is a little ahead from here in that direction....
....due to which the surrounding settlements would not get flooded with rain water. In 2005 when all of us experienced Mumbais flood due to which there was 16-17 feet of water Kalina, (?) nagar, (?) village, Kalina (?) colony, Indian Airlines Colony and the surrounding areas were continuously affected. And in the coming days the kind of scenario that is evolving that we get scared whenever it rains and there is always a danger .....
....who has come here, the chief of all of India and in Rajasthan you have resurrected more than 8500 ponds and rivers. And due to this we seek your guidance because our Kalina Parishad, which was the most affected in the floods, wishes that this pond be restored for which we seek your guidance and support. For this purpose you have come and we , the residents of Kalina, welcome you. And we request the locals to express, in 2 mins,....

Any one who comes in contact with us. Their 1st question is that how did you all allow this to happen? Now I'll tell you the letter which we had written. The 1st letter which we had written, May 11 2000. I'll just read the letter very fast. The once existing beautiful tank which used to supply water to the villages situated at Kalina Koliwadi Village, Kalina is now filled with garbage dumping, etc. At present it appears the tank never existed. Since it is now being cleared of the garbage and the ground is levelled it is the villagers request that the tank should be made to appear as it appeared in the earliest time, ie, in its original,beautiful form. We therefore request you authorise the concerned department to cordon the area as it was earlier namely there was road all round the tank. We also urge you that the land is not encroached upon and no unauthorised structure should spring up by any scruples element. Now this letter was given to all the departments concerned and it lying.... and I feel this is a landmark letter which is written in year 2000. But then what happened these people turned as mentioned....the corporator was after this land and then he went on he used all his influence. Till today they are still claiming it for a playground. Playground means buildings, actually they are the buildings (?). And we have got a file of this letters after this letter about this correspondence. Ok..

There once used to be a pond for 400 years even more. In that there were lotuses and lots of other varieties of flowers that grow in water, such as (?). Birds from mountains used to come and there were fishes and what used to happen in the rains is that the rain water from the surrounding regions would collect in the pond and would flow into the Mithi river. Due to this filling there is flooding during the rains in the surrounding region. That is why we have started to protest and we are taking your support.

.....was connected with ponds. And all the rites from birth to death used to happen on the banks of ponds. Ponds did not belong to any one cast or creed or rich or poor, it belonged to everyone. It was for everyone. But the previous terror due to development have murdered these ponds. It feels good after coming to this village/place today because in a so called developed city such as Bombay still there are some brothers and sisters who think that ponds should be resurrected, that ponds should again be created. There no people who left who say these things. It felt very good after coming here today, after listing to you all. I only want to say this that we had in 1951 filed a case in the Supreme Court that the ponds of India should be made as they were at the time of Independence. Because we did not give a pre-independence benchmark we gave a benchmark of the time of independence. Supreme Court gave us a very good verdict in that case. In the Supreme Court ruling it is written that ponds are very essential for Indias environment and life. Those ponds that have been encroached upon or have been filled in the name of development, it is the responsibility of those state governments to restore those ponds to the state that they were in at the time of independence. In my opinion if the brothers and sisters and friends of Bombay fight and send the supreme court judgement to your state government and say that this is your responsibility that this pond should be restored. And that we want this pond as it was at the time of independence. If this demand is taken up by the local during this tour and stand by this demand then this judgement of the Supreme Court, just look in the book of law, you will get it. If you don't get it then you call me I will send it you, I have a copy. In this march all I have to say is that really at this point of time if we want to resurrect rivers then we have to resurrect ponds. Without ponds flooding of rivers will not stop. This terror of floods is an outcome of the death and filling of ponds. When the water would fall as rain the ponds would store it in their stomach and then it used to to flow out later. So there were many ponds. Not just this pond there might be many more ponds in Bombay. I would like to congratulate you all that at least there were vigilant people like you who let them fill it with mud but at least till now you did not let a cement and concrete jungle to come up here. Now your victory is assured now that the people of this country are behind you. You fight this out and restore to as it earlier was.

And now this (?) is more or less fully concretised...
There in the Hiranandani complex they demolished the mountains and cut the forest.

...they went on building. Hiranandani complex went on getting built and we regarded it as development. We all know about how Hiranandani complex is a fraud because it was meant for poor people and poor people (?). That's a different story. But lush green forests and hills lying in this green belt were destroyed. These hills was the origin of a river. Now when there is flooding at Safed Pool (Kurla), Safed Pool (Kurla) is blamed. On the other hand trees are being cut to build at Hiranandani but no body is paying attention. Now (?) that starts from Powai lake to Kalina where it goes and meets the creek. This part of Mumbai has become completely concretised so the water flows on the surface and there is no absorption of water. So the assumption of the government plan of '64, that the ground will absorb half the rain water has been proved wrong.

After that the ponds. The number of ponds. Earlier there used to be hundreds of ponds when there was regular water supply, people thought that land is more valuable, it is an asset so why is there a for ponds. So the ponds were filled. When water started coming through taps since 1860 (?) then everyone though that if the water comes through taps then what is the need to think how,where and by what process water originates in nature.

The last and most important aspect about the Mithi river is the place where the Mahim creek meets the sea. (?)(?). Because on it Bandra Kurla Complex has been erected and it stands on Mithi river. National Stock Exchange ,(?) are directly on top of Mithi river. And to isolate the place of the mouth of the Mithi river, or any river as for that matter from where the creek lies is wrong. If you look at it from a scientific viewpoint then the (?) of a river (?) ????
Now the Bandra-Worli sealink that has been made. The water that comes from this region, from Borivali National park to Dadar TT/Lower Parel, from Wadala to Arya Samaj Santacruz, approximately 70% of Mumbai which is at a higher level that some of the other villages, has to drain out at the causeway* and you go and build something right there which has absolutely no scientific outlook. If we reclaim all the land from Bandra to Prabhadevi - 400 meters from Bandra and 270 meters from Prabhadevi and (?) comes behind it - what will happen you can imagine. The sea has been obstructed. The pressure is coming*. One can see that Chowpatty is over and the water goes 2 to 2.5 meters into the drains during the rains. And on the other end the water coming down from such a large area needs an outlet. There was a big explosion like event that had occurred on 26th July.

And we think about the catchment area of the Mithi river. Apart from this area it has an influence area, which affects regions from Versova/(?) to Sanpada in (?). So what we can see that it affects a very large region from Worli...not just a creek or the island city which starts from Mahim/Sion to (?) and from Bandra till the end, at Dahisar, whose buffer is the Mahim creek and the Mahim bay, whose importance if we don't understand. And if we don't understand its geography, that it is so to withstand the south-west monsoon. That's why you have rocks in Bandra and sand here because (?) If they didn't understand this and went on reclaiming in the northern direction....this is very wrong and its result was a disaster. I just want to say one thing, we have called Rajendra Singh because, as you know, his work has resulted in rivers flowing 12 months which had completely dried. The (?) the demand for ponds....he gasve them back their livelihood. People from villages, which is considered as a big problem for the cities is, come in great numbers from villages to the cities, approximately 4.5 lakh people come to Mumbai everyday. Why do they come from villages? If she can live happily in the village, she would not like to settle in Mumbai. We must keep this in our mind.

Some wrong concepts for example drum washing people from Gujarat were removed. Today we saw that the water flowing down to the place that the drum washers used occupy was completely black and oily. It was polluted beyond imagination. So it is wrong that removing drum washers is portrayed as a solution to the people of Mumbai. As its not drum washers that have created the poisonous chemicals. It has come from the companies. They didn't take care and clean the drums and to save their labour expense they gave the work the poorest of the poor. Now if boss does not give water to the washerman to wash the utensils, then the utensils have to be washed and the river is anyway bad even after shifting the drum washers.

The 2nd point is that the central pollution control board has, it has been petitioned against in the High Court, the central pollution control board has said that slums, (which in the eyes of the people is wrong), dump around 5 mld of waste in the Mithi and how it is such a scary scenario. We have started regarding what we believe as the truth, this is occurring in the society in general. But the truth can be something different. And that it can be something other than our presumptions, this we must understand as soon as possible. Because the pollution that is discharged in the Mithi from Mumbai, which is considered to be the financial and industrial capital, is 100 mld per day, 10 crore litres per day and 5 mld because of the recycling work that took place. Recycling on its own is nothing, it cannot happen on its own. When this city burns, its cause is not a small 5 mld....(?)

I am going one step further. I am saying that in the last 40 years this river, which is mentioned in the Maikawati* (?) 900 years ago. And all the names of all these villages Andheri, Sahar are exactly the same and all the villages mentioned used to give a record harvest of rice and vegetables, that we have destroyed everything in the last 40 years. We have destroyed the areas and we have destroyed the rivers. Just imagine what would happen if we continue this industrialisation of our community. If Rajendra Singh saves a mountain in (?) jungle in Rajasthan. The only reason why (?) hills gets destroyed is that in cities like Mumbai every other person puts marble or granite in his/her homes as a display of life change and success. That is when the hills at in Rajasthan or any other jungle are destroyed.

....and the brothers and sisters sitting in the hall.
Today I saw a river of Bombay. That river has given us a good example of the way of development and the terror that is has given birth to in India. The people of Bombay before 26th July 2005 were not terrorised by floods. Today during our tour which ever places we visited, the locals said that when the flood occurred on 26th July our (?) completely drowned. Now when will the next flood come, when will it drown we don't know. And one man in anger said that you have come so late. His anger was a bit different.(?). But his anger was justified*. Whatever he said was right because he had the fear of the flood.

When there is a small flood, before the water come people tie (?) and stay safe or the ones that can swim, swim out of the flood. But how will the people of Bombay get out of a flood? Neither they know how to swim nor do they know how to tie (?) before the rains. So the community that doesn't know how to tie (?) before the rains, that doesn't know how to swim, will drown. It doesn't feel right to call the river that we were looking at today, a river. Our (?) Mr (?) is working for it to be called a river. He is fighting so that it continues to be a river. But the government does not want to call it a river, rather a gutter as it would relieve them of their responsibility. Otherwise to resurrect a river and to maintain it is its moral responsibility. So they feel its more appropriate to call the Mithi river a gutter to evade this moral responsibility.Now it all depends whether the people of Mumbai would like to call the Mithi a river or a gutter. This big question came to my mind while we were on the tour. I felt these youngsters and these elders, we got to see a lot of senior people today. I got to see 3 generations on the banks of this river. There were 70 year seniors, there were also 15-20 year old youngsters and there were lots of 40-50 year olds. So these three generations that were on the tour maybe they had a stronger feeling in their mind to restore the Mithi as a river, had that feeling that this this river should be restored, be saved.

But you do you know how rivers are created and how river remain rivers? Who makes the rivers? How rivers keep alive? How rivers are flow? How rivers are saved? These can be better learned from the Bombays' Mithi river. Bombays' Mithi river when it flows down from the lakes of Powai, Vihar and Tulsi to its catchment area it gets a couple of natural lakes on the way. The various underground water streams at the base flow* give it the shape of a river. But ahead of that as and when the flow of the water increases you cannot see its original water, ie, its base flow, the rainwater, the streams. What is visible is the (?). What is visible is the effluents of industries. That's it! And that effluents, I feel, that in our eagerness towards development led us not to see the rivers' death or the should I say the rivers' illness rather we thought it was more appropriate to dispose off house waste and water or industries pollution. The (?) story that Girish narrated I would like to make a few points based on that....

Why worry about the Mithi today? Why did this worry about Mithi arise today? I feel a few days back an incident occurred in Mumbai. And in that incident some people...what should I say... were made a martyr of or died. Should I say both? So sometimes the sorrow of incidents, the anxiety of incidents some in the mind, some in the heart, give rise to a little (?). So I feel this incident might have created some anxiety for the Mithi river. I feel that this is the right time for this anxiety, when we can turn Mithi into Mithi (sweet) again. And I am saying that Mithi can be made sweet, this is a very easy task and its not a difficult task at all. Because there are three dangers to the Mithi....

The 1st danger is encroachment, the 2nd is pollution and the 3rd is its unseen or hidden exploitation. And these three dangers are there to all the rivers of the country, not just to the Mithi. We consider the rivers of our country as livelihood, as life. The rivers are all of that!! Rivers develop life, sustain life, give life. But Mithi river is no longer (?). Today Mithi river is no longer the livelihood of Mumbai. Is it? Is Mithi river anybodys life? So by killing Mithi river, if the people of Maharashtra the people of Mumbai would say that this river is my livelihood, this river is my life, this river is my land. Our right to say this was snatched from us by someone. If one river was Mumbais' life, Mumbais' livelihood, Mumbais' territory, then who snatched that right from us? This question....people should think about this question before working for Mithi river.

Another question - How do the people of Mumbai view the Mithi today? What does Mithi river mean for the people of Mumbai? Is it only a threat of flood? Or is Mithi river a river that gives joy? Or is Mithi river one that takes away joy? What is it? Why will the people unite with Mithi river? Why will the people unite today to save Mithi river? The Mithi river for which all of us were anxious since today morning, how should the (?) people, with the anxiety for the Mithi, be? That is the 2nd question.

The 3rd question is : Can the Mithi again regain its the same character as its old one? As I had earlier said that sleep*, woman* and river these three are are (?) with each other. Mithi.... Why is it called Mithi? Its water, the flow of its water, its environmental flow, its ecological flow is any of that still there? Is there anything remaining?
If we think about these small questions alone, then we would be able to easily find these answers. But I would like to answer these questions in brief.

I had not gone to Rajasthan to work on water. The community there told me that don't do work for medical and education. Work for water. If the water problem gets solved then it will automatically infuse life into us. Those who have been (?) will once again (?). Friends, I did not know how to do this work. But the conditions there taught me this work. So can the students sitting in the hall, the teachers sitting in the hall, the advocates sitting in the hall, the scientists sitting in the hall, the social workers sitting in the hall, think that it is important for the Mithi river to be resurrected. If they can think of this today that it is important to resurrect the Mithi river and that we want to get involved in this work then we can think further. If you think that the Mithi river once again should become a clean river and to make it a clean river a couple of people, even 1 person is enough. This whole hall (?) If in even 1 person sitting in this hall is willing to say, ' I shall devote the remainder of my life to make this river into a river'. If this truth (?) then river (?).

What is your opinion? Give some opinions. Yes, Saabash....Ok. Very good. All the sisters and brothers seated in this hall are probably anxious about resurrecting the river and are here to talk about just that. This is what I think. This is what I'm assuming. {Because nobody stood up and said anything. If everyone is eager to hear or say something....Would you like to say something?}
We will fight...
Girish is saying that I have always said that this is a river and this it is living river. (?)

Someone should show us the way ahead to save the Mithi and then the rest should join that person. Alone no one will achieve anything. I am standing here today in front of you because we have resurrected 7 rivers. This was not done by me. This was done by the local community. The of feeling that community and the vision of that community. When they felt that we have to resurrect our rivers, they resurrected 7 rivers. So if the community has it in their heart.....has a vision in their hearts that we have to make our (?), resurrect (?). Then the community does it. Today all the people seated here in Kirti college can in a short time turn the Mithi into a river. How can you make it?

I feel the job that should be done is, to fix and resurrect all the traditional water bodies, be it lakes, ponds, (?) streams, in the catchment area of the Mithi. I think this should be the first job. The Supreme Court of India has, on this matter, given a historical judgement. With the help of that judgement you must fight against the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai and the government of Maharashtra. You must tell them that you have gone against this Supreme Court judgement. The pond I saw today, even today nobody has occupied that area but its been filled. So if you resurrect that one pond, then this initiative will automatically revive. So the very 1st job is to resurrect the ponds, by removing (?) of rivers. If the ponds are revived then the people of Mumbai would, like before, be freed from the fear of floods. The terror of floods that exists in their hearts because ponds store all the rain water and discharge it underground. Its underground accuforce, its sub-surface accuforce, its base flow, when they get merged* then a lot of water is absorbed by the ground. So the 1st job should be to organise some agitations for our ponds here. To my knowledge there are three agitations in Mumbai (?). So the work of reviving, supporting, and joining these 3 agitations can be done.

2nd job is for the colleges. The department of geography, department of social sciences and the members of the NSS have to come together and study and detail report* of all the tributaries and smaller rivers of the catchment area. And it should explicitly state what is happening to its water. Who is the polluter? Who is the exploiter? Who is the encroacher? All these three should be put explicitly on paper after conducting a study. For this work Janak Daftari and Girish don't need to fight. The only need is that of a fight*. This work should be first taken up by Kirti College. Before going today..... If the principle of Kirti College says that to conduct the studies is our job. Our college departments will take up this work. I feel that this good work will begin from here. Always it is the small things that lead to bigger things. So let this small study start from here. And the sister and brother that are seated before me they can volunteer and tie up with the Social Science institution or its geography department....This work is very important. Who will take it up? How will he/she go about it? I don't know but I know 2 friends who are sitting here on the stage and I know couple a people here, but I feel everybody here are willing to fight. So you all should decide, how to conduct an earnest study and we know its detailed position. As this can be done during the college time* that is why colleges should help in the collection of the data and to form a framework for the data. (?) consider this as their work. And they can also include students.

The 3rd job that I think needs to be done is you should have Independence Day/Year as your benchmark. And since Independence who all have and where done what, from the reports of the river. How has the land use changed? Who has changed Mithi rivers' land use? Today Girish was telling me how they diverted the river in an almost U-turn and how they erected an airstrip at that location. So similarly how has the land use of Mithi river changed? Land use is the benchmark. And after independence how much of that has changed. This is one work that should be done schools and colleges. Colleges are a part of the state government and the government cannot deny their reports. And the work of the colleges also gets done. You get to know the truth. It is the work of colleges and universities to give the factual truth.

3rd job that I want you to do is that these polluters that exist, the solution for these polluters has gone to the government. The government in the polluters (?)...that you kill a person but give the person some money. Today the price of killing one person is Rs 50000/-. They killed thousands of people in Bhopal, they gave 50000 rupees. Even in your Maharashtra many have died due to pollution. But anywhere the price is not more that 2 Lakh rupees for people who have fallen ill and died due to pollution. The need of the hour is to bring out the kind of diseases that are arising due to pollution in rivers. And this work should be allocated to, if we have some friends in the medical circle, or to a medical college or a medical institute or they also have a high community medicinal department, to that department. How will you involve them in this, I don't know. But they must be involved in the work. If anybody seated here having a medical science background should look into how pollution affects health. I have not come here to sermonise. I have come here to talk about work. So let me get to the point......
So I feel that this 3rd job should be done by us.

This time a very good judgement that the Supreme Court has given is that it is the duty of the state government to immediately remove the encroachment that takes place of rivers and ponds. And the state government that does not do this, one can file case under contempt* of court. Should I say....(?)
So we must use this judgement. I can give a copy that.
2006, This judgement was given in 2006.

It is my view that when one speaks about resurrecting a river there is the society on one hand and there is the river. And this society is a part of the culture, the river culture. And the earth is a part of the life of a river. So every river has its own geo-cultural diversity. So when we intend to resurrect a river then we must first start respecting the geo-cultural diversity. In the case of Mithi, the biodiversity, the flora and fauna, the forests, it was not thought as to how to save those forests. Today we saw that between the river and the forest....rivers have a relationship with forests similar to mother-fathers, trees and forests are the fathers of rivers. Earth and hills all of this are the mothers of rivers. Here the big walls of iron, cement and concrete are the forests and the river is made to flow through it. The ecological diversity will be hurt due to this. If the water of the river does not go into this jungle. The way you lungs....These days the lungs and livers of young people are getting bad. The same way Bombays' lungs and Bombays' liver both will get spoilt. These forests are Bombays' lungs. If you surround these small patches of forests with cement and concrete then it will break the ecological friendship and understanding of nature. So can we do something about this? For this your help is needed. To save the streams, rivers and the sea can some people start working from today? Can they take this struggle ahead by saying that we will not let any wall come in the river at our place*. Yes...

I would like to narrate a small incident. There is a Noori river in Rajasthan. The textile industry had polluted the Noori river of Rajasthan so much, that it had made 10000 hectares of our land unusable. What the farmers of that region did was, they brought their tractors, JCB and (?) to the all the factories and said that the High court and all the courts have given their judgements in our favour but you don't listen to any one and that you will listen to our tractors and our JCBs. And they blocked all the outlets of the effluents of the factories and redirected them back to the factories. Do you know what this resulted in? What was gained, was that all those industries that were discharging effluents into the river were made to shut down and move out. What did they do? There was yet another site at a higher region which was a lone river basin area. They were shifted in that lone river basin area.
Now you will ask what is this lone river basin area? Lone river basins are those where the river does not flow anywhere else and meet another river or the sea. So they were given a lone river basin in the upper regions....

I feel that some students, teachers, and social workers of Mumbai teach these people that these forests, these rivers and the sea are all part of our paristithi (environment), are in accordance* to our geo-cultural diversity.
You will have to take the initiative for this.

I would like to make a small point. What happens when a river is resurrected. When our Aravali* river was resurrected and the water started flowing in it, the fish returned. And as soon as the fish returned the 1st people to come there was the government. The government goes only to the places where they get money. So now that the river was generating money the government too control of that river. The locals there said,'When there was no water and we had protested at the Vidhan Sabha, no one was even listening. Now that the water has come back and the fish have returned, the government also came. Now we will drive the government back. Then the villagers from both sides of the river came together and said ' This river is ours, this water is our and the fish is ours. From where did this government come? Go back !!!' This is not just for clapping. Do you know that now the government of Rajasthan do have the guts to even lay their eyes on the river. How many years have since passed? 11 years. In 11 years the government there did not dare go there and fish. (?) the boats were removed and transported back and they said no fisher will enter this river. So the villagers turned fishermen. Now the river belongs to the village, the water belongs to the village and the fish belongs to the village. And they made their own parliament.

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