Sassoon Docks event spotlights heritage, cleanliness and push for public access

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The Sassoon Docks at Colaba, with its stunning clock tower as centrepiece, played host to a programme recently. The SoBo venue held an arts and crafts exhibition, a street play by children on eco-consciousness, with a focus on keeping our oceans clean, and a short film on the history of Mumbai's maritime heritage. A number of politicians also addressed the audience, comprising primarily of locals.

This is a welcome effort to bring a piece of the city, often inaccessible to the public on the radar. A number of programmes are planned for this space, so that the Docks can have the public coming in to view them, while also bringing the area itself into public consciousness.

For years, people have walked past the space, glanced at the clock tower, and bought fish in the mornings, but have hardly seen the quarters next to the clock tower, or even wondered about the architectural marvel that it is. This should become a visibility spot and a tourist destination.

The most important message, though, is that it should be kept clean. Even the Dock's surroundings should be sanitised. It is unfortunate that it takes special programmes to bring about awareness of basic hygiene, but that is how it is. Cleanliness at all these public sites should become part of daily living and should not require special attention or effort. Keeping the city, including our water bodies, clean should be as natural as a daily routine. More dustbins, signage, awareness, community engagement, enforcement, and local leadership response are some of the keys in ensuring that cleanliness is sustained and not a one-off effort.