A Draft Colaba Correspondent
At 8.30 am on 22 February 2020, the familiar sound of a fire brigade siren rang loud in Colaba Market as a fire engine slowly meandered its way through the sea of shoppers and vegetable vendors. Parked vehicles, bikes and cycles were physically moved out of the way in the absence of their owners.
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| Leading Fireman Avinash More leading the operation from the front |
Apparently, a crow was enmeshed in
manja in a Peepal Tree and a murder of his lot had drawn the attention of residents to the issue. "They made so much noise that it was impossible to even talk to another," says home-maker and resident Sunita Shinde.
"The fire brigade arrived promptly within five minutes of a resident's complaint. We were all worried if the crow would make it alive," said local mechanic Riyaz Shaikh. But it did, thanks to the swift and prompt action by the Colaba Fire Station officers. "We get complaints like these very often and deal with them like as in any other disaster," said Leading Fireman Avinash More.
As fireman Sachin Kandekar extricated the remains of the broken
manja from the crow's feet, the crowds that had gathered to help the fire engine to reach the crowded spot in time, were relieved. "The crow was stuck at a height of 40 feet when we reached him," said Mr More.
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| Fireman Sachin Kandekar holding the rescued crow |
The operation took about five minutes but moving out of the zone took a good 20 minutes for the fire engine. The crow was placed in a plastic basket and transported to a local bird shelter who tended to it.
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| The fire engine meandering its way out of Colaba Market |
The swarm of vendors - unauthorised and illegal - in Colaba Market along with the perennially placed barricades deterring not just pedestrian passage but even the way for essential services like ambulances or fire engines, need to be addressed. And, addressed soon lest there be avoidable loss of human life and property to disaster.
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