Online petition to declare city's rivers as living beings

Saddened by the sorry state of the four rivers of Mumbai, a Borivli-based resident has started an online petition to urge Chief Minister Devendra Fadanavis to declare the city's four rivers as living entities.

Tejas Shah, who works with an MNC, said that this was the best way to create awareness about the rivers of Mumbai, and also the only way to save them. "After reading about how Ganga and Yamuna rivers were declared living beings by the Uttarakhand High Court, I felt that even the Dahisar, Poinsur, Oshiwara, and Mithi rivers have been lifelines of Mumbai before being destroyed by unplanned development. If they are declared living beings, there will be an emphasis on the government to save them," said 44-year-old Shah, who has been associated with the River March, that seeks natural restoration of the four rivers.

Shah started the online petition on March 21 and began sharing it on several social media platforms from March 22 onwards, which is celebrated as World Water Day. His petition seeks the granting of the four rivers with legal rights, duties, and liabilities.

Gopal Jhaveri, co-founder of River March said, "There is lack of a scientific action plan for revival of the four rivers." On March 5, over 20,000 people marched along the four rivers of Mumbai, highlighting the issues plaguing all the rivers. The march was headed by Rajendra Singh who is called the Waterman of India.