76-yr-old restored peace at Shivaji Park, fight’s still on

Mumbai: If Shivaji Park in Dadar, heaving under rallies and loudspeakers, has been less jarring to the ears for the past six years, you have this septuagenarian to thank.
Ashok Rawat, now 76, has been fighting the decibel demons for nearly eight years; he turned his attention to neighbourhood issues following 25 years of consumer and civic activism. To begin with, Rawat chose his own neighbourhood, Shivaji Park, which has been home to him and his family all his life.
Rawat formed the Walkers’ Ecological Movement Trust (Wecom) with 20 other citizens and took up the onus of restoring Shivaji Park’s time-honoured tradition of being a sporting ground as opposed to the podium for political, commercial and recreational functions it had become.
The 28-acre public ground has been the cradle of social and political activity in the city for nearly a century. It has been a popular venue for rallies and meetings from Independence Day to the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, Dussehra to Diwali. “The entire park had been divided into 34 sub-plots allotted on vacant land tenancy to different organizations. Yet, its character as a public playground remained intact. Non-sport functions were usually reserved for the evenings and they never interfered with youngsters’ right to play,” says Rawat.
As he watched Mumbai’s largest park get noisier by the hour, he realized there was no regulation on the activities carried out. “The park was being used for various functions 265 days out of 365.”
While Wecom’s focus was initially on battling the use and abuse of the playground for non-sports events, the decibel distress became evident. “It got louder as sound technology evolved. Loudspeakers and music systems became a menace. Noise issues often get pushed to the periphery and citizens lack awareness to take action. Apathy of citizens translates into apathy of authorities,” says Rawat, explaining why he decided to take matter into his own hands.
“We figured that the entire Shivaji Park qualifies for silence zone because of the 34 tenants; 10 were schools using the space for physical training. But no municipal or government was doing anything about it.” This prompted Rawat to file a PIL in 2009 with Awaaz Foundation’s support.
Their efforts yielded results a year later when the Bombay high court passed an interim order that Shivaji Park and its periphery be declared a “silence zone” and banned the use of loudspeakers in the area from 10pm to 6am. That hasn’t made the anti-noise crusader hang up his boots yet, though. He continues to keep the pressure on—by floating flyers, targeting students and prevailing on police authorities seasonally to monitor sound levels. Rawat is anxious about his crusade reaching its logical end on July 1 when a final court hearing is scheduled. “If all goes well, it will help Shivaji Park set an example and move towards a wider vision. Hopefully we’ll also have younger volunteers reach out for community level action,” he says, with his fingers crossed.
(Inputs from Shalini Poosarla and Akanksha Saxena)