Locals protest to ‘save Poisar river’

Holding placards and chanting slogans to stop concretisation work of Poisar river, over 30 members of River March — a citizens initiative that seeks revival of Mumbai’s rivers launched River Satyagraha on Sunday morning.

Citizens gathered at Kandivli East’s Thakur complex, close to the site from where concrete mixers were entering to reach one of the tributaries that meets the Poisar river. The BMC is not only building  a retaining wall here but also laying a concrete bed for easy flow of water during rains.

“Being Sunday, most of our members stood throughout the day and we have decided that from Monday onwards we will stand and protest for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening at the same location till BMC stops the work,” said Gopal Jhaveri, one of the organisers of River March adding that they are also creating awareness about the issue.

“People of Mumbai are still not aware that the 13 km Poisar river is one of the four rivers of Mumbai and starts from Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

Tejas Shah, member of River March, said that people think its justified to build a retaining wall and concrete bed but we are seeking that not only Poisar but the other three rivers be revived naturally without concrete.

Shanta Naidu, part of the group, said that they also consulted Rajendra Singh who is hailed as India’s waterman and even visited the site on Saturday. Experts have said that concretisation of the river bed or its tributaries is illegal.