Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Atul Kamble

A clean, bold flight

A bird flies through the field during the ongoing Ranji Trophy match between Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh at Wankhede Stadium.

Every drop counts

Water, water everywhere, and now a billion litres of it to drink. All thanks to Mumbai-based entrepreneurs Krunal Patel, an alumnus of the KJ Somaiya College of Engineering, and Amrit Om Nayak, the brains behind INDRA, a proprietary plug-and-play wastewater management system. Refined to perfection at Somaiya Vidyavihar University's start-up incubator, riidl, the set-up requires 90 per cent less space compared to traditional solutions. Following a Series A funding round of $4 million, Gaurang Shetty (below), CEO, riidl, shared, "INDRA began with a humble pilot run at the University's Maitreyi Hostel. The recent funding will help us scale up the impact and cross the mark of a billion litres of water treatment."

By the civilians, for the civilians

The Story of Nagar by Nayana Kathpalia and Meher Rafaat explores how pedestrians take the high road due to hawkers seizing the footpaths

In a recently launched book by Urban Design Research Institute (UDRI) titled Mumbai Reader 22|23, you will find 24 stories that document major historical and legislative civic issues, actions and events in forms of interviews and stories. Among these are illustrations by Batatasaurus AKA artist Kartik Nakkana that are a satirical take on the issues faced by the civilians of Mumbai that are so normalised that they are now funny.

The Early Years of New Bombay by Shirish Patel. Illustrations/@batatasaurus

"All stories and articles have pictures in the book," said Nakkana, "You will find my illustrations in three stories; one highlights how the hawker-takeover of footpaths has led to pedestrians taking the main road, another one explores how a vacation and a conversation in a pool between three officials resulted in the making of Navi Mumbai, and a third which shows how festivals and political rallies, among other events, contribute to noise pollution in the city." Explaining how despite touching on serious issues, the book can be read by the common man, executive director of UDRI, Anuradha Parmar, added, "The articles are conversations tracking simple incidents and events. Most stories have funny anecdotes from the initial days of peoples' civic engagement journeys. We have so many rich examples of how common people come together to act." To access the e-book for free, log on to udri.org.

Run for pink

Participants run at a previous marathon by the initiative

Save Navi Mumbai Environment and Wandering Souls will return with Run for Flamingos 3 on February 11. The marathon aims to create awareness about the importance of mangroves, wetlands and the city's favourite seasonal visitors - flamingos. Leading up to the marathon on February 11, Saurabh Agarwal, co-founder, Wandering Souls, told this diarist, "Flamingos are a marker of a healthy coastal system. If we don't protect the wetlands and mangroves that act as natural barriers against flooding, we risk frequent flooding that many coastal cities are already facing."

Remembering the Mahatma

Tulsidas Somaiya. File pic

Flashing placards sporting thoughts by the father of the nation, nearly 100 people were seen giving their heartfelt tribute to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on his 76th death anniversary yesterday across SoBo. The peace march was led by Tardeo's Bombay Sarvoday Mandal, a Gandhian public charitable trust, which is also home to the Gandhi Book Centre that houses nearly 450 books and aims at making Gandhian literature accessible to all age groups and even prison inmates. "We began our peace march at August Kranti Maidan at 3.30 pm, halted at Mani Bhavan Gandhi Sangrahalaya and then headed to the Sarvoday Mandal in Tardeo for a meeting," said mandal president Tulisdas Somaiya. He added that the meeting included a special commemoration of Gandhi at 5.17 pm, when he was shot to death in 1948. "We observed a silence for two minutes and then moved on to a lecture on the Mahatma by professor and poet Dr Hubnath Pandey," Somaiya told this diarist. The book centre has also set up a makeshift stall in Fort, where all the books on MK Gandhi are being sold at flat 50 per cent off till February 3.