South Mumbai Slums Look Back At Police Action During Lockdown With Gratitude

It's finally here...the wait is over! Unsung Mumbai Police - Colaba Division produced by DraftCraft Films in collaboration with The Draft has been released in public domain and is available for free viewing. 

This documentary was created as part of #TheUnsungProject kickstarted by Unsung - The Film that was released in November 2020. It captures the selfless dedication of those whose contributions would otherwise go ... unsung.

Mumbai's population is estimated to be 20.82 million (2.08 crores) in 2022 as per the Mumbai Metropolitan Region estimates of UN World Urban Agglomeration Population Prospects. Compare that to New York City's 8.2 million and London's 9.5 million and you can see things in perspective.

Statistics released by the Mumbai Police in their annual crime conference in early 2022 revealed about one-fourth of sanctioned posts in the Inspector cadre and about one-fifth of the sanctioned posts in the Constabulary are yet lying vacant.

Constabulary, which forms the backbone of ground-level policing, also has a high number of vacant posts. Of the total sanctioned strength of 40,622 posts, 33,236 comprising Police Constables, Police Naiks, Head Constables and Assistant Sub-Inspectors are filled, leaving 7,386 posts vacant.

These vacancies include 5,141 entry-level posts of Police Constables and 1,494 posts of Head Constables both of which play an important role in maintaining law and order.

To tackle the spread of COVID-19 and ensure social distancing, masking and mandatory 'stay indoors' caveats were followed, was a tall task. Particularly so, in the overflowing slum pockets that pepper the landscape of Colaba.

There was overwhelming resistance from slum residents 'contained' in crowded zones in tiny rooms ensconced in narrow lanes and frustrated on being forced to stay indoors for days on end.

With every passing day, cases of COVID-19 continued to surmount. Apart from the fear of contracting the virus, death and penury due to loss of work, it was the fear of the unknown that hit the worst. Nobody knew for how long would the turmoil last and when would it end, if at all.

The Draft Colaba's Unsung Mumbai Police - Colaba Division details the superhuman efforts undertaken by the Mumbai Police's Colaba Division that includes personnel from Cuffe Parade Police Station, Colaba Police Station and Marine Drive Police Station.

Two years after the first onslaught of COVID-19 and two lockdowns later, the slum-dwellers look back in gratitude.

The police recall their ordeals, the losses suffered within their ranks, how they performed their duty even in the face of a certain death and managed masses at the sure risk of contracting COVID-19 themselves.

Hundreds from the force got infected, registered losses even deaths along the way.

Here goes: A Tribute!

Watch Unsung Mumbai Police - Colaba Division (May 2022) here.

Watch Unsung - The Film (November 2020) here.

Watch all segments under #TheUnsungProject here.

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Unsung - The Film

#UnsungTheFilm #TheUnsungProject #UnsungIndia

'Unsung' captures the selfless dedication of those Indians whose contributions during COVID-19 times, would otherwise go ... unsung.

Team Unsung spread across 20 States, 5 Union Territories and over 100 Cities and Villages in India, to document stories of hope, hard work and dedication of thousands, in the time of COVID-19.

From April 2020 onwards, a spurt of COVID-19 cases threatened to snowball into a disaster of epic proportions in India. The country had to grapple with overwhelming population and space crunch issues that only made things worse. And then, like the proverbial Phoenix, India rose again. And, with it an army working silently within borders, facing COVID challenges with grit and, out in the open!

Doctors, Nurses and Health Workers worked endlessly to treat the ailing, for days, particularly in government and civic hospitals. While a lot of doctors refused to work, fearing contracting the virus themselves, there were gynaecologists, ophthalmologists, gastroenterologists, dentists and general practitioners who braved the situation and treated patients for a host of diseases, even other than COVID.

And, working towards turning the tide were others too. Like,

Pharmacy and Chemist Workers who sold medicines, essential drugs and the supplements so needed during the period while braving police action and curfew norms during the lockdown;

Pathology Laboratory Workers who ran blood works, critical diagnostic examinations and COVID-19 tests across India even in far-flung Andaman & Nicobar Islands; 

Postal Workers who braved all lockdown hurdles to reach medicines, cash and other deliverables to homes in containment zones even in the harsh terrains of Jammu & Kashmir;

Bank Employees who ensured financial reach and assistance to millions of households in rural Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam, Meghalaya and others;

Civic Workers who travelled for hours from their homes to work daily and ensure cities stayed clean and sanitised even in high-risk COVID hotspots; 

The BEST Workers who transported essential service providers even at a time when Mumbai's lifeline, the local train service, was stopped to prevent the spread of the virus;

Grocers and Vegetable Vendors who opened shops and stalls and made deliveries to ensure households ran without a hitch during this time;

And, Police Personnel who spilled out onto the streets to ensure people wore masks, maintained the mandatory physical distancing and...stayed safe. Thousands contracted the virus in the process, some even died! 

Unsung is 

A DRAFTCRAFT FILMS PRODUCTION In Collaboration With THE DRAFT

Subscribe: https://tinyurl.com/DraftCraftFilms

CREATED & DIRECTED BY: Gajanan Khergamker

PRODUCTION: Manu Shrivastava, Renuka Goel, Susan Lobo, Vedika Jain

DIRECTION: Kavitha Subramanian, Rashmi Singhvi, Gayathri Vasudevan, Anisha S

CREATIVE: Mihir Naik, Sagarika Sen, Sonal Aggarwal, Manu Shrivastava, Vipul Sheth, Rashmi Parab, Ruchi Verma, Nivedita Bose

SOUND: Nilesh Ranjan, Prashant Joshi

LEGAL: Meena Nair, Kusum Mehta, Siddharth Thakur, Manisha Singh

MUSIC: National Anthem Instrumental - Hello TechJi | https://www.bensound.com | Vande Matram Instrumental - Moyal

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Facebook: https://facebook.com/DraftCraftFilms | https://facebook.com/TheDraftWorld

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This DraftCraft Films Production was created in conjunction with The Draft as part of the Pro Bono Publico genre. This documentary was created in Good Faith, Not For Profit, Without Prejudice and for Public Good. Unsung was created by DraftCraft Films Productions’ team of segment producers, correspondents, researchers, film-makers and coordinators networked across India during the national lockdown in 2020, for over three months. The team generated the material, even sourced key information from partner organisations and state entities from across India, in person and electronically while observing the mandatory social distancing norms as laid down by law.

DISCLAIMER: Unsung is a creative enterprise produced by Gajanan Khergamker through DraftCraft Films Productions for its Pro Bono Publico genre, Without Prejudice, and is a Not For Profit venture. This is to undertake the entities featured in Unsung are only indicative and symbolic of the segment and should not be construed, in any way, to undermine the work done by any other entity during the lockdown, and not included in the documentary. Unsung has been created in 'good faith' and for 'pro bono' purposes. DraftCraft Films Productions, its extended teams, associates or Gajanan Khergamker do not endorse the views or credentials of any entity featured herein for its role during the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown in India.