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Dariya pe dangal
Updated On: 10 September, 2023 06:27 AM IST | Mumbai | Gautam S Mengle
The ocean is Mumbai’s oxygen tank. Its sea faces, our pride and refuge. Suddenly, they have become a place of conflict, between those who seek peace and those chasing leisure and company. mid-day took a stroll down the promenades to figure out what the shor sharaba is all about
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Visitors seen thronging Marine Drive during high tide and posing for photographs earlier this year in July. Pic/Getty Images
Last Monday, a reel by Dank Bombay on Instagram showed two visuals in a split-screen: The upper half showed a throng of people on Marine Drive on a Sunday morning singing, dancing, holding up placards, and offering free hugs… The lower half, a character from a popular web series shaking his head over the subtitle: The guy who bought a sea-facing flat worth R25 crore just to see this. The reel, which has since garnered 53.6k likes, 41.8k shares and 666k views, may be satirical but indicates what’s fast becoming a concern for those residing around sea faces and promenades, as well as the authorities. South Mumbai’s showcase stretch, Marine Drive, in particular, has been in the news for crowds that surge on Sundays. Every few steps, a content creator is shooting a reel, or a couple is posing for a pre-wedding/pregnancy/pet parent shoot; or a person is offering free hugs. Or a living statue is attracting curious crowds around him.
So much is the chaos that the Marine Drive police have officially sought to end Sunday Streets, a positive initiative started by former Mumbai Police commissioner Sanjay Pandey, in February last year. “We have sent a letter to the office of the Commissioner of Police, asking that Sunday Streets be stopped immediately. As it was started by superior officers, this move shall need sanction from the top,” Senior Police Inspector Nilesh Bagul, Marine Drive police station, tells Sunday mid-day.
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