western railway – The Metrognome

The operation aimed at killing at least 10,000 rats at Mumbai Central station; WR stopped the operation at the last minute.

by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Here’s an interesting turn of events – today, a pest control company was to conduct a free rodent control operation at Mumbai Central station, after the Western Railway (WR) approved of the drive. However, just before the drive could commence, WR officials reportedly shut it down without assigning a reason.

Said Dr Sanjay Karamkar, owner of Laxmi Fumigation and Pest Control Ltd. “As a part of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, our company initiated the process of rodent control at Mumbai Central station at platform 1 to 5 yesterday, February 9, 2015. Considering the menace of rodents at railway stations and their increasing population, this initiative was a boon.We had pledged to catch about 10,000 rodents at the railway station. It was at the commencement of the drive that Western Railway Administration got cold feet about the publicity and the apparent defamation that it would face, considering the huge number of rodents at the station. They then compelled us to abort the process.”

In 2014, the same company had successfully caught 8,000 mice in a hospital in Indore. Dr Karamkar says he had all the requisite permissions from WR for the drive, which was a free pest control operation. “The Railway administration had agreed and granted us the permission, but on the day of the operation when 15 of our representatives were about to begin their operation, they were stopped by the railway authorities and were asked to leave the premises without any explanation,” he claimed.

Dr Karamkar added that despite questioning the authorities, he was asked not to continue with the drive and no explanation was given for the revocation of permission. He also alleged that WR was probably afraid of bad publicity after the drive. On his part, he has issued a written complaint to the Union Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu, against Western Railway administration, by email.

(Picture courtesy moreindia.in)

National Streets for Performing Arts (NSPA), after entertaining commuters on Western Railway, wants to spread the cheer at other Mumbai spots.

by Medha Kulkarni

June 27, 2012 was an interesting day at Churchgate station. In the midst of this busy railway station, a group of musicians assembled for their first-ever performance. It was a small performance involving two buskers, Jishnu Guha from UK and Sureshji, an Uttarachali folk singer, (both talented vocalists) and within minutes, a crowd had gathered to hear them.

This group was the National Streets for Performing Arts (NSPA) at work. The NSPA was born last year out of the idea to take the performing arts to the people by reclaiming public spaces for street performances. By its own admission, the NSPA seeks to champion public spaces as an alternative platform for performance, encouraging greater interaction between artists and the community, creating spaces of cultural interaction and energising the very city and its people. It aims to support the livelihoods of less privileged and independent performers across diverse genres.

A big factor in starting the NSPA? “To rekindle an atmosphere of street performances in urban India (starting with Mumbai) that aims to bring some joy to the lives of millions as they go about their daily commute,” says founder Ajit Dayal,52, best known as the founder of Equitymaster, Personal FN and Quantum Mutual Fund, when asked about the inspiration behind this unique initiative. Recalling his childhood days of watching street performers in Mumbai city and noting how street performers continue to brighten the lives of residents of cities like London and Paris, Ajit says he wanted to “recreate that in an organised fashion in Mumbai.”

Following their debut performance at Churchgate station, the NSPA launched full time performances on October 8, 2012, with music performances at Churchgate station on Mondays, Borivli station on Wednesdays and Bandra station on Fridays from 9 am to 11am and 5 pm to 8 pm. NSPA chooses its locations with care, ensuring that the site would be frequented by large numbers of people but in a spot that doesn’t cause any trouble or inconvenience to commuters.

With a small team of eight members, each a passionate lover of art and performance, NSPA manages to pull off successful events each time and the response from the general public only acts as good encouragement. “The response has been encouraging, proving to both us and the artists that the city of Mumbai is receptive and open to an initiative such as this. We hope to continue the performances at the railway stations and soon expand to parks, gardens and bandstands in the city and across the country, thus weaving art into the very fabric of the city and making performances as regular an occurrence as the trains , the buses and the commuters,” says Shrishti Iyer, Performance Co-ordinator at NSPA.

Apart from the regular performances at Western Railway stations, the NSPA has been collaborating with major art festivals in the city like the Indikaleido Festival, Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, the BMW-Guggenheim Lab etc.

Encouraged by their initial success, the NSPA is now seeking to expand to Central railway Stations, Horniman Circle Gardens and bandstands across the city, apart from other public spaces.

If you want to keep track of their performance so you can catch the next one, all you have to do is ‘like’ their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/nspa.streets for regular updates and notifications.