Mumbai Diary: Thursday Dossier

Pitch perfectYoung boys convert an empty autorickshaw stand outside Mumbra station into a makeshift cricket pitchSowing a greener tomorrowiNaturewatch Foundation a trust working to preserve urban biodiversity recently announced a reforestation drive at the Taloja Hill Watershed in Navi Mumbai ldquoThe Taloja Watershed separates the rainwater flowing to different waterbodies including Taloja Lake This land belongs to Panvel Forest Department who have permitted us to conduct a reforestation drive With the planting season coming up we are engaging volunteers in sowing seedsWe have collected a large quantity of seeds for Pongam trees which are native to this region These will be planted along the streams where these trees typically growrdquo shared Dr V Subhalaxmi its founder The hilly region has largely been denuded and there is an immediate need for soil control and afforestation to improve the water table and enhance the biodiversity in the region she added Check out their work at inaturewatch on InstagramArthur Road jailrsquos shot in the armEven as Mumbaikars scramble for their vaccines there are still many who are being deprived of their shots because they lack the basic documentation Several such individuals are located within the cityrsquos prisons These facilities are also severely overcrowded the Arthur Road facility houses 2800 inmates against its capacity of 800 and lack basic infrastructure to meet inmatesrsquo medical needs This is why the Bombay High Court has prioritised vaccination for inmates explained Shishir Joshi CEO of Project Mumbai His organisation joined hands with the BMC and Saayam Foundation to vaccinate the inmates of Arthur Road jail this week ldquoWe successfully vaccinated all the inmates aged 45 and above on Tuesday and will soon vaccinate the others aged 18 and above as well We will conduct a similar drive at Byculla jail which is the womenrsquos prisonrdquo he shared The organisation has donated oxygen concentrators to the Arthur Road jail and Thane mental hospital to facilitate inhouse treatmentShowcasing untold storiesIn a bid to encourage writers from the Dalit community to share their stories Delhibased publishing house Navayana has launched their first Dalit History Fellowship Programme They are inviting proposals from writers from the community and will award two candidates R1 lakh each to work on their manuscripts The deadline is June 30 ldquoDalit history is often spoken about in broad terms and there are many stories that wersquore not aware ofrdquo shared S Anand founder of Navayana ldquoWe want to seek out new writers who we can nurture train and provide adequate mentorship tordquo added Dr Suraj Yengde in pic a writer and judge on the panelThis musician hits a different noteHerersquos a piece of news to lift your day up Sumeet Samos a Dalit rapper and anticaste activist was accepted into the UKrsquos Oxford University for an MSc programme in March this year But he had failed to secure a scholarship to fund his studies despite trying various sources Desperate he took to social media on Monday to ask for Rs 27 lakh for his tuition fees and within only 24 hours people had donated not just that amount but R10 lakh more to sponsor his stay Itrsquos on occasions like these that we can claim to truly be an inclusive nationIPL is now the Indian Petrol LeagueThe Aam Aadmi Party AAP got into bashtheBJP mode on Wednesday this time with a bat and ball With petrol prices crossing Rs 100 per litre the AAP organised a mock cricket match outside the BJPrsquos Dadar East office with the batsmen wearing masks of PM Modi and Amit Shah In fact several parties have called out the BJP using cricket analogies of petrol hitting a century But their plan did not receive permission from the police and the protestors settled for a demonstrationcumagitation near the station instead