90-year-old man recalls Gandhi Maidan struggle where he saw Bapu for first time

90-year-old Dinkar Martand Prabhu Desai, who is one of the activists involved in the decade long Gandhi Maidan preservation struggle, witnesses the result of their efforts, The Indian Express reported.

The Gandhi Maidan in Mumbai, which is close to the Kurla (West) railway station, is rich in history, having hosted rousing rallies led by Mahatma Gandhi during the country's struggle for independence as well as serving as the preferred venue for meetings of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement.

The authorities had, however, ignored it for many years, and it took the tenacious efforts of a group of senior citizens for the municipal body to finally take control of it and rid it of encroachments.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) began construction earlier this year on upgrading the maidan and converting it into a garden and playground.

Desai told The Indian Express about first encountering Gandhi while consulting one of his notebooks to help him recall some of the significant memories he had recorded there.

“One day, while I was returning from school, I saw Gandhiji standing in an open Jeep, delivering a speech with Jawaharlal Nehru beside him. A huge crowd had gathered to listen to them speak as those were the days of the Bharat Chhodo Andolan (Quit India Movement). I was still a teenager,” Desai added.

Desai, who is more commonly referred to by the locals as Anna (elder brother), lives alone in a single room at a chawl in Abdul Estate, which is situated in one of the dingy lanes of a congested Kurla neighborhood. He is well aware of the fact that his memory is fading with age and has taken steps to counter it.

In order to ensure that no significant detail is missed, he has been sequentially recording the events of his life, including the struggle to clear the Gandhi Maidan, in a number of notebooks.

He also keeps a file of old newspaper clippings that documents the history of the struggle for the Maidan. In his room, which also includes a small bed, two wooden stools, and a few utensils, he keeps the notebooks and files in two metal almirahs, calling them his most prized possessions.

In the years that followed Indian Independence, the Gandhi Maidan also had a significant impact. Several meetings presided over by leaders like Acharya Prahlad Keshav Atre, Senapati Bapat, S M Joshi, and Prabodhankar Thackeray were held on this site during the Samyukta Maharashtra Andolan, which gave birth to the state of Maharashtra in 1960.

Since there were mills nearby, it was simple for workers to get there, and they flocked there whenever a public meeting or other similar events took place. Because of this, politicians frequently chose to host events there. 

The Maidan was still a major location for political gatherings up until the 1970s. People who had moved to Mumbai from nearby villages between 1972 and 1974 began constructing shanties in the ground that lacked compound walls.

“With time, we realised that the encroachment should be stopped immediately as the legacy of this place needs to be protected. Through our organisation – the Jaishta Nagarik Sangh (JNS) – we started to write letters to the local authorities to take action against encroachers,” Desai said.

Authorities conducted the first encroachment survey in 1986, and after demolishing the shanties built at the maidan, some of the encroachers were given rehabilitation services at Mankhurd in the eastern suburbs.

However, a group of residents of the maidan filed a lawsuit with the Bombay High Court, claiming they were forcibly removed without giving them any notice. As a result, the court named a court receiver to resolve the matter locally.

Desai recalled that as long as 29 shanties were present in the maidan, encroachments grew as the case remained pending.

Desai's JNS launched a movement to clear the area of encroachment in 1995, enlisting the aid of other concerned citizens from various communities.

Participants in the movement went on hunger strikes, including Desai. Some of the shanties had to be removed by the authorities as a result, but they soon returned.

Anil Galgali, a social worker and local resident who joined the cause in the early 2000s, claimed that this is when the movement really took off.

“In 2003, I was a nominated member in the local ward council. During my tenure, I took up this issue and worked in coordination with the citizens. During this time, so many people came forward to show their support,” he said.

The activists began a significant signature campaign in 2009 and urged the chief minister to act. The case was reopened in the HC in 2014 as a result of a strongly worded letter the JNS and another organization known as Gauri Shankar Krida Mandal (GSKM) sent to the administration pleading with them to act right away.

All 29 of the shanties were removed in 2018 after the court ordered the Deputy Collector's office to permanently combat the encroachment in 2016. The Collector's office was the original owner of the plot, but the activists wanted the BMC to take over the land. 

Desai was doubtful that encroachers would successfully retake the land if it were left open, according to GSKM working president Vishwas Kamble, who also spoke to the publication.

Because the Collector's office lacks the necessary funds or resources to develop the plot, Kamble siad that Desai wanted the land parcel to be immediately given to the BMC.

Desai says as he flips through his notebook that he went on a hunger strike on December 21, 2021, to demand that the land be given to the BMC. The land was given to the civic body the very next day.

He added that the assistant municipal commissioner, who was in charge at the time, had visited him and convinced him that they were acquiring the plot.

The 2,257.5-square-meter plot is currently being transformed into a civic garden. It will include seating areas for seniors and a jogging track. Additionally, a security personnel-only cabin and a compound wall have been built. There is still work being done on the landscaping and ancillary projects.

The project will cost Rs 96 lakh, according to estimates.

There is currently only one encroaching structure left on the plot, but it is not blocking the ongoing construction. The occupant of this last building is scheduled to vacate the plot within a month, Assistant Municipal Commissioner Dhanaji Herlekar said.

Herlekar also mentioned that they intended to install a tablet inside the garden that will provide details about the historical importance of this location. According to Herlekar, the collector's office has granted them advance possession of this plot, and they have not yet been required to pay any money to them.

By the beginning of the following year, the garden would be open to the public, Herlekar added.

Since the upgrading work started, Desai, however, has not yet visited the location. Desai claimed that he had recently fallen ill and was now recovering. People had been telling him tales about the garden, and he plans to go there as soon as his health improves.