Mumbai’s Neglected Rivers - One Man Captures Their Fleeting Beauty

Mumbai has four rivers, the Dahisar, Poisar, Oshiwara, and Mithi; a fact forgotten or unknown to many Mumbaikars. In truth, the culmination of these rivers that filter into the sea are trails of polluted sludge that far from resemble the clean and plentiful waters they extend from downstream. These days they are commonly referred to as nallas by the people who live around the streams-turned-sewers.

Since many do not know these rivers exist, the actuality that they were used by nearby fishermen and tribals living in Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali to fish, bathe and occasionally drink from 15 years ago is also forgotten. The river shores were a place where children played, lovers met, and families picnicked. Now the shores have transformed from a place where communities once thrived to a dump, the constant and rampant pollution gradually erasing the memories of happiness and togetherness the rivers once represented.

Nevertheless, one photographer is determined to show the city that its lifeline veins, the four rivers, exist, and so do the communities based around them. Aslam Saiyad, a 39-year-old photography instructor and animation school manager who grew up in Borivali, reminds HG, he is not an activist, he is a photographer who tells stories through the lense of his camera. He is not concerned about gallery exhibits, and shows his photos to the people who live around the river, sharing his work with the community it was born from.

An intriguing aspect of Aslam’s photo story is that his images depict a snippet of hope for the few families that still surround the Dahisar river. He frames the symbiotic relationship between the Warlis and Agri fishermen communities and the river, demonstrating the strength of that bond, only to re-frame other photos to evoke a sense of clinging desperation - fishing nets sparse except for a few small fish, plastic lingering in the corner of the photo, foreshadowing the fate of a once pristine river to a nalla.

The bulk of his photos are united by the trope that as the rivers are polluted, the various cultures of the people who are settled on the river’s shores become polluted as well. To Alsam it is of paramount importance to demonstrate how this corrosive pollution goes beyond the environment, and threatens the endangerment of local culture as well. A stricking example of this is how many local fishermen living on the Dahisar river have had to give up their long-lived professions and submit to unskilled urban jobs that offer paltry means.

Aslam Saiyad’s photo project Discovering The Forgotten Rivers Of Bombay only features the Dahisar river so far, as Aslam is keen on visiting the river once a week and properly documenting the life there. He expects his entire series featuring all the rivers of Mumbai will be complete by 2019.

Although Aslam is not an activist, and his priorities lie in preserving the memory and knowledge of Mumbai’s rivers, he cannot help but get frustrated at the continual degradation of Mumbai’s forgotten rivers.

“The Ganga is supposed to be living, right? So don’t we consider all rivers living? Then why do we treat Mumbai’s rivers like nallas?” He continues, “Dhobi Ghat Colony, buffalo herds, and surrounding slums are all pumping and dumping in the river and using it as a sewage line...And the government’s response is to build walls on the banks of the river?”

Aslam insinuates that the only way the government will toss a rupee to a project involving the river is if it is a construction contract. Of course, conjecture will get you nowhere, but a Trump-like form of action, like, building a pointless wall that only serves to funnel floods into Borivali and hide an existing problem does raise one’s eyebrows.

Enjoy the rest of Aslam’s beautiful photos here, and if you can, lend a hand and help your city’s rivers. You can do just that by contacting River March as well as spreading the knowledge that Mumbai has four rivers that all could use a little more TLC.