Thane: A 23-year-old man, mentally disturbed was noticed wandering in a garbage heap at Vitava near Kalwa and shockingly was eating waste and leftover food from the dump. Prashant Narvekar, a photojournalist, noticed the man and with the help of regional disaster management cell (RDMC), Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) doctors, Kalwa police officials, Thane mental hospital staff and social worker, Kasber Augustine who heads Thane Citizens Forum gave a new lease of life to the mentally disturbed.
On July 27, Prashant Narvekar spotted the lone man in the garbage dump following which he asked a few people around about the latter's whereabouts they said that he was wandering near the garbage for the last four days. Narvekar informed the Thane civic body RDMC team and then the Kalwa police station officials.
Narvekar said, "On July 27, when I noticed the 23-year-old mentally disturbed man in the garbage, I approached him and tried to talk to him and also find out more about him. He was not able to tell anything but he muttered that he is from Bihar. He was eating waste food from the garbage. I complained about it to the RDMC team which circulated the message in its WhatsApp group. Kalwa police then came at the spot but they said that he is mentally disturbed and we can't do anything."
"On July 28, I noticed him again and informed the police about it. On July 28, he was staring at girls and women so I asked Kalwa police station officials to take him to the police station but they did not take him,' Narvekar said further.
On July 29, Prashant noticed the man again and this time he himself took him to the police station and also informed Thane Citizens Forum president Kasber Augustine about it.
Kasber Augustine, president of Thane Citizens Forum (TCF) speaking about the experience of giving a new lease of life to the young mentally disturbed man said, "Our mission to give a new lease of life to the mentally disturbed young man in distress started on July 29."
"Prashant Narvekar along with me met the police personnel at Kalwa police station and requested them to help the young man. We also called the 108 ambulance service and the TMC disaster management team and with their help, Dr Safiya Akhtar and the driver of the ambulance we could manage to shift the man to Thane mental hospital," he said.
Augustine added, "The Kalwa police station took charge of the man and with the help of TMC disaster management, 108 ambulances and our team lifted the man and put him in the ambulance. Policeman Bramhanand Patil willingly helped us a lot till the last moment. The next mission was to make an arrangement at a regional mental hospital and with the help of Shital Nagre, dietician of the hospital, we explained to her the issue and requested for help. She volunteered to help and made all the arrangements with the help of Dr Sandeep Divekar the deputy superintendent of a mental hospital and other doctors. We got the medical examination done and a report was prepared that had to be shown in the court. The man was brought to the district court by us and we had a tough time to take him to the third floor of the court and once we reached the court, the judge saw the man and was very kind enough to pass an order to admit the man in the mental hospital."
"The next task was to get the antigen test done. We called up Dr Bhimrao Jadhav and Smitali Hamrusker of TMC for help and they willingly helped us by providing the TMC ambulance. The antigen test was done at a civil hospital then we took the man to the mental hospital and after doing all the required legal formalities this man was finally admitted in the mental hospital no 19. New cloths were given to him after his good bath. He looked happy, content that he has got a better shelter that has a lot of friends, medication and food. So finally our mission to give a new lease of life to this young man was successful."
Prashant Narvekar on a lighter note said, "We will also try to find out his parents soon."
