A virtual workshop on dredging will delve into impact of sea mining activities

A postcard showing Marine Drive

Mumbai has an intrinsic connection to the sea. Yet much of how we have mined, dredged and reclaimed the sea rarely makes it to our history books. To give students from classes six to eight a crash course on the science of sedimentation, hydraulics and the mechanics of dredging, Dr Bhau Daji Lad (BDL) Museum, along with STEAM Academy is hosting an informative virtual session, titled Mining the Sea! Dr AP Jayaraman, founder of STEAM Academy, conceptualised the session and will present along with Jasvinder Kaur. The hour-long session will be conducted on Zoom in Hindi and will delve into the mechanisms of dredgers, which are special ships that help excavate sea beds and underwater rocks to use as building material.

A model of dredger Kuphus presented by the Bombay Port Trust. Pics Courtesy/DR BDL MUSEUM

The workshop will guide children to understand how this is used for land reclamation purpose. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, managing trustee and director of the museum, shares that dredging and mining of the sea have been part of not just Mumbai's, but any major international city's development story. "Sea mining requires sophisticated technology and is a very challenging aspect of engineering," she tells us. Participants will soak in the science of the process with the help of objects at the museum.

"In the early 20th century, the Mumbai Port Trust authorities had donated scale models of different dredgers used in the reclamation projects in Mumbai, namely the BackBay reclamations. We design our learning programmes to decode the stories behind the objects and connect them to the present so that they continue to be relevant to all age groups," Mehta explains.

Tasneem Zakaria Mehta and Dr AP Jayaraman

Mumbai and other Indian cities are racing to expand and develop in terms of roadways, housing and other infrastructure, while ignoring their impact on people and the environment - a reality the session aims to address. "The iconic Marine Drive in Mumbai is a result of land reclamation projects. We hope to address the impact of sea mining activities and discuss the very important question of urban development and its impact on our natural environment as we see climate change happening around us in real time," she signs off.

On: November 24; 11 am
Email: education@bdlmuseum.org