On Wednesday, lakhs of dalits from across the country thronged Dadar’s Chaitya Bhoomi to pay their respects to Dr B R Ambedkar on Mahaparinirvan Din, which marks the leader’s 67th death anniversary.
Amid tight arrangements by the Mumbai Traffic Police, Dadar streets were packed with hawkers selling Ambedkar’s portraits, flags and other objects as thousands of people arrived from different pockets of the country.
An event which dates back to 1956, the year of Ambedkar’s demise, Mahaparinirvan Din event draws scores of people from the city, interiors of Maharashtra as well as other states of the country. They all pay their respects to Ambedkar at Chaitya Bhoomi, which serves as a resting place for them.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) set up two canopies across one lakh square metres in the northern and southern ends of Shivaji Park ground opposite the Ambedkar memorial to accommodate visitors.
The tents also turned into places of respite for vendors travelling from other states such as Rajasthan to set up pop up stalls at Shivaji Park.
“We built two waterproof tents to accommodate followers. Our facilities had the capacity to accommodate between 6,000-7,000 people. However, many people were also living outside the ground. We had also covered the cricket pitches in the park but people are now living there too. Because of these factors, we do not have any records on how many people have availed our accommodation facilities. We have also been providing meals like pulao to all the followers staying at Shivaji Park,” a civic official told The Indian Express.
Besides the tents, several medical, educational and career counselling stalls have been set up alongside book shops. Stores selling Buddhist relics and Ambedkar’s portraits were also set up here.
According to the BMC, mobile toilets, bathrooms, drinking water taps, electrical charging points, control rooms as well as medical rooms were also set up in and around Dadar ground.
This year, a facility for nursing mothers was also made available for women with newborns. For monks participating in the event, accommodations were made available near ScoutGuard Hall.
