Indiana Jones
Teams visit endangered heritage sites, suggest solutions to save them
MUMBAI: A class of 30 students from the department of masters in urban conservation from the Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture and environmental studies (KRVIA) recently visited some of the most endangered archaeological heritage sites in the city to find out the problems that the places face and suggest solutions in the manner of iconic film character Indiana Jones, who took it upon himself to recover important historical artefacts.
Among the places they visited were Gilbert Hill – a monolith basalt column that is estimated to be over 65 million years old in Andheri, Jogeshwari caves, Mandapeshwar caves in Borivli, Dongri Hill in Bhayandar and Holy Trinity Church in Powai.
At Jogeshwari caves, the students saw slums surrounding the caves, with sewage seeping into the rocks and weathering them.
“We hosted a few awareness sessions around the caves and encouraged the youth to participate in creating a water holding pond so that drainage water coming from slums is collected there,” says Prathyaksha Krishna Prasad, 24, a student of Masters in Urban Conservation.
“We also observed that there are no signboards or proper roads to the caves; it is not getting importance being a national heritage site. We proposed construction of proper roads and signboards to local authorities.”
Students of the post-graduate course in media and culture at TISS in Deonar are studying the distinct culture that developed in the areas where families of textile mill workers lived. They have created digital archives that consist of films about the mills and the lifestyle of the workers. “The archives are accessible to readers and researchers,” says Aastha Tyagi, 23, one of the students who contributed to the archives. The films feature stories about the famous Lal Baug Ganesh pandal that was started by mill workers, the culture of Akhadas – Indian-style gymnasiums – that the workers started in the city.
While most students work in groups, some pursue individual projects. Sandeep Dahisarkar, 23, a student of research in ancient Indian culture at the University of Mumbai observed ruins of sculptures of Shiva, a lion and few inscriptions on stones near Ram Mandir in Oshiwara.
When he researched about them, he found they had historical value and decided to talk to local authorities to conserve them.