Bay View Rotarians do 320 projects worth Rs.4.5 crore in one year
Looking back with great satisfaction on the Rotary year 2024–25, which has gone by, Rajni Barasia, outgoing president of RC Bombay Bay View, RID 3141, says with pride, “We have done around 320 projects and initiatives worth ₹4.5 crore across all the seven focus areas of Rotary touching more than one lakh lives during this year.”
The club’s beneficiaries are spread across India — Kashmir, Karnataka, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, and all over Maharashtra. In June, the club members distributed winter jackets to 800 homeless children in Mizoram, Leh (Ladakh), Kargil (Kashmir) and Darjeeling at a cost of ₹8 lakh. “These are special jackets fabricated recently and can be used as sleeping bags in the night,” says Rajni.
In April-May, two ambulances were donated to rural hospitals in Kinwat village, Nanded district, and Melghat village, Amravati district, at a cost of ₹43 lakh, funded by CSR grants and member contributions.
In Kinwat, a doctor at the Sane Guruji Rugnalaya takes care of the vehicle, while for Melghat, Dr Ashish Satav at the Mahan Trust Hospital has received a 20-seater bus-cum-ambulance from the club. Returning on the two-in-one medical bus to his village, Dr Satav rang up Rajni to say, “you have no clue what your club has done for the tribals in our remote villages who don’t have access to medical care. Now, they have got wheels to reach their nearest hospital in Melghat for timely treatment of various illnesses. Thanks a lot for this wonderful gift.” Both the charity hospitals offer free diagnosis and treatment.
A major highlight of the club’s medical projects is the renovation of a 30-bed post-natal ward and its operation theatre at the Cama and Albless Hospital, Fort Mumbai, a speciality centre for women and child care. “The ward and OT renovation done at a cost of ₹40 lakh pooled in by members will benefit 5,000 pregnant women each year,” says Rackhee Mehta, outgoing club secretary. With the Phaco machine (₹23.6 lakh) donated to BMC Eye Hospital, thousands of high-tech surgeries can be done to restore the sight of underprivileged patients.
Mental health camps
In a mega outreach, the club has done a series of mental health and wellness camps and awareness sessions for 5,000 participants including students, teachers, parents of special children, and policemen. “Expert counsellors guided the multiple sessions on addiction prevention, menstrual hygiene, good touch bad touch and healthy lifestyle talks held at government schools in and around Mumbai,” explains Rajni. Following one such camp, the father of a special child approached Rackhee to request her club to “hold more such events as through these sessions we learn how to take care of our well-being, even as we look after our special children’s interests.” The wellness sessions also focused on how to recognise the early symptoms of mental illnesses that a child can have. These mental health camps were held jointly with RC Addiction Prevention 3141.
As part of RID 3141’s Project Anganwandi, Bay View Rotarians have renovated 10 integrated childcare centres (₹12 lakh) in Vikramgad and Talasari taluks near Mumbai which will benefit at least 300 children every year. E-learning classrooms with Smart TVs were set up at 35 zilla parishad and private trust schools (for Class 1–10); and play equipment given to 22 government and trust schools at a total cost of ₹40 lakh under the Happy Schools initiative. “Our smart classrooms and play equipment will benefit over 10,000 students, and we also reached out to a remote school at the Karnataka border to install a smart class,” says Rajni.
Every service project is like our own baby. We conceive it with enthusiasm and go about our tasks with great zeal.
– Rajni Barasia, Club president
As high fluoride levels in drinking water have stunted the growth of children due to poor haemoglobin in Pali district of Rajasthan, “we installed RO filter units at a cost of ₹15 lakh at 21 government schools, and now around 8,000 students can have clean drinking water.” Around 200 tribal families at Ambesari village (Dahanu taluk) and Kaspada village (Vikramgad taluk) are ‘breathing easy’ now with the two wells constructed through a CSR grant of ₹11 lakh. “Earlier, women had to trek more than 4km to fetch water. Now this practice is history as they get water from the wells,” smiles Rackhee.
She recalls a joyful moment for Rotarians when a Kaspada woman approached her to express the villagers’ gratitude and said, “Now we get a lot of time to spend with our children. As we draw water from the well nearby, we save our energy which is diverted to other useful chores in taking care of our families.”
A rainwater harvesting system with a borewell (₹4 lakh) was built at a zilla parishad school, Vankas village, in Dahanu taluk, through CSR funding to provide clean drinking water to the villagers.
This 23-year-old club has 155 Rotarians for whom “every service project is like our own baby. We conceive it with enthusiasm and go about our tasks with great zeal,” says Rajni.
