Azad Maidan Clean-Up: Its not enough!

 As part of World Environment Day celebrations on 6 June 2014, the Observer Research Foundation Mumbai organised a clean-up drive at Azad Maidan, Mumbai. Our researchers and interns worked hand-in-hand with an enthusiastic bunch of local hawkers who decided to shut shop, clean-up and keep working till the job was done. Even cricketers in whites—both young and old—and pedestrian commuters who number in the hundreds of thousands each day chipped in with a sweep of a broom and a stroke of a paint brush. In four hours flat we had taken a chronic problem area of an iconic maidan—littered with garbage and reeking of urine—and turned it around to into an oasis where pedestrian commuters can pause for a breather or sit in the shade and open their lunch boxes. It was an honest effort from all those who participated. We did what we did without expectation of reward or a pat on the back. It was a rare event where nobody called the press and yet they turned up.

We felt proud to clean-up a maidan on which our martyrs’ blood was spilled in the first War of Independence in 1857. Two sepoys, Sayyed Hussein and Mangal Cadiya were executed by canon fire in full public view to be made an example of. It had the reverse effect and the incident stirred a great city and nation into fighting for freedom and self-rule. This very ground saw several rallies, agitations and protests in support of the freedom movement including the largest pre-independence rally addressed by Mahatma Gandhi in 1931 before his departure for England. 

As cricket lovers, many felt privileged to clean-up the birthplace of Indian cricket. Indeed it was this ground that hosted the first ever test match played on Indian soil in 1933 between England and India. India was led by the legendary C.K Nayadu and despite India’s loss, Lala Amarnath scored a century in front of a crowd of 50,000! This ground has given India a galaxy of cricketers which were bred from the Giles and Harris Shield, Times Shiled, Purushottam Shield, Kanga League and even the now discontinued Bombay Pentangular tournament.

It felt fulfilling to toil together in the summer heat making a public place more beautiful, safer and friendlier for people who we would never know or meet in our lives. The pedestrian walkway between CST and Churchgate cuts through Azad Maidan and Cross Maidan. It sees several million footfalls each year through sun and rain. These pedestrian commuters have no respite from the elements or cricket balls that knock them down every now and then. Even the walkway itself is more potholes than bitumen. It felt great to be able to patch two large potholes just at the mouth of the maidan so close to the rains. All it needed was two bags of cement and some rubble that we found on the maidan itself.

The pile of garbage that we stacked up after 4 hours of cleaning remained still remains on the ground. We could not lift it out as barriers at the entrance prevented passage of our wheel bins. We felt cheated. The waste remained there even on the next day and the day after that. Indeed, we realised that there is no designated garbage sweeping and collection authority for the maidan! How can this be? A historic venue and one of the largest open spaces in the heart of the India’s busiest central business district has been allowed to spatially degenerate and rot in piles of uncollected garbage and open defecation! Turns out that’s exactly how it stands. The MCGM that typically cleans up public places including maidans won’t cater to Azad Maidan because it does not belong to them. The Public Works Department (PWD) owns the ground but does not clean because that’s not what the PWD does and it has not staff to clean grounds. Besides the management of the ground and the 22 cricket pitches and tents lies with the School Education and Sports Department which has no budget to clean up the ground or to employ security guards. Indeed the Azad Maidan has been seemingly orphaned by all those who are supposed to look out for it and its users—Mumbaikars. Us.

Obviously, a one-day clean-up operation on a section of the maidan is not the final solution. It did the job of raising awareness about the right issues and generated momentum which needs to be channelized. So we decided to have a word with Mr. Mohan Adtani, Additional Municipal Commissioner of the MCGM and with Smt. Ashiwini Bhide, Secretary of the School Education and Sports Department – the most important stakeholders towards a sustainable solution to a decades-old problem. Both agencies received us well and both have taken a step in the right direction. They admitted that the garbage management, security and pedestrian comfort on Azad Maidan must be addressed swiftly. WE have urged them to call a joint meeting of all concerned agencies and thrash out the matter till a solution is found. It’s really not that difficult. The MCGM must begin garbage sweeping, collection and transportation in the maidan. It has to be them – this is what they are here for. The PWD along with the School Education and Sports Department must work towards the safety and comfort of the millions of pedestrians that walk through Azad and Cross Maidan. The Observer Research Foundation Mumbai along with Ratan J Batliboi Consultants Pvt. Ltd. Have presented a thoroughly researched makeover plan for the iconic makeover of Azad Maidan and August Kranti Maidan which can be used to identify short term and long-term improvements and makeovers on both maidans. One such component of the makeover is a semi-sheltered, pedestrian walkway through Azad Maidan and Cross Maidan including a priority pedestrian crossing on MG Road (Fashion Street) and through Khau Galli (Lane of Street Food) ending at New Marine Lines. This 450m of pedestrian infrastructure will positively impact the lives of several hundred million Mumbaikars each year who walk through the maidan. It will protect them from the sun and rain and sweetly-timed cricket balls. It will make their commute to work pleasurable. It will give them the opportunity to catch a bit of cricket action on Bombay Gymkhana and Azad Maidan. But most of all it will give them a sense of dignity as pedestrians and equals in a city that is predominantly built for the rich. Join us in support of such makeovers which are begging to be put in place. Makeovers that citizens need and the government is happy to oblige. Yet they never see the light of day because they are missing a champion. Come join the effort. Be the champion of the change you want to see. Only Mumbaikars can make Mumbai a World-Class city! It begins with YOU!