December 6

Followers of Dr Ambedkar had come from all corners of Maharashtra, and also other parts of the country like Agra and Delhi. The majority of them were from Vidarbha. They could be seen standing in the hot sun in serpentine queues to pay their respects at Dr Ambedkar8217;s shrine at Chaitya Bhoomi.

The sprawling Shivaji Park also had long queues this afternoon, as thousands lined up for free food being distributed by various organisations like Bhumi Abhilekh Karmachari Vrunda and the Congress party. Families were also seen cooking meals on stoves they had carried with them to the park.

Roads adjoining the park had been cordoned off, and traffic was diverted by hundreds of traffic policemen posted on duty. Hawkers, who otherwise completely crowd the road outside Dadar station, wererestricted to the footpaths by the civic authorities today. Pulse polio immunisation camps were also organised by the BMC at Chaitya Bhoomi.

The road leading to the Chaitya Bhoomi at Dadar Chowpatty was choc-a-bloc with men and women of all ages.

At a function organised by the Congress party at Azad Maidan, Mumbai Regional Congress Committee president Murli Deora said both the Congress and the Dalits should safeguard the nation against the campaign launched by communal forces. He criticised the state government for going back on its promises of free houses for Dalits, cheap meals at Zunka Bhakar Kendras and for focussing only on non-issues like the entry of the Pakistan cricket team in Mumbai.

The People8217;s Education Society also held a function at Dr Ambedkar College of Commerce and Economics, Wadala, to mark Mahaparinirvan Day. Deputy commissioner of police Uttamrao Bodhawade was the chief guest for the function.

Bandobast for Babri anniversary

The sixth anniversary of the Babri Masjiddemolition passed peacefully in Mumbai amid the tightest-ever security in sensitive spots of the metropolis.Mumbai police had been warned by the Central intelligence agencies of the possibility of a terrorist strike on the eve of the Babri demolition anniversary. Two such notices were received by police, along with alerts from special branch-I, the intelligence wing of police. Besides police, several platoons of State Reserve Police SRP manned sensitive areas like Bhendi Bazaar, Mohammed Ali Road, Nagpada, Behrampada Bandra east and Kurla east, among others. The recent seizure of arms, including AK-56s and hand-grenades claimed to be from the same lot smuggled into the city in March 1993, had created considerable tension.

BMC8217;s pulse polio drive a big success

n THE first leg of the pulse polio immunisation drive today received an enthusiastic response, with lakhs of toddlers being taken to various centres across Mumbai for a dose of the polio drops.

With the help of government and voluntaryworkers, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation put all its machinery to work for the drive, part of the National Polio Eradication Programme. The second leg of the campaign will be held on January 17, 1999. The drive in the city is targetted at 10.5 lakh children below the age of five.

With nearly 50,000 staffers and an equal number of volunteers, the civic body put up 6,632 centres across the city. The centres were set up at municipal and private dispensaries, maternity homes, hospitals, worship places, political party offices, railway terminuses, state transport depots and even octroi check posts. The BMC also sent 10 mobile vans to some slum areas. At the F South municipal office at Parel, parents queued up with their little ones early in the morning, waiting for the civic staff to start administering the oral dose. When asked how it would help her two-year-old, 30-year-old Lata, a maid, replied, 8220;My child will never become lame.8221;