What community service activities have Sethna's 18th West Bombay Rovers undertaken?

Updated

The site documents at least one detailed Rover service activity: on Sunday 8 April 2012, a six-member Rover team helped move a four-storey, 50-foot scaffolding at Kappawala Agiary in Mumbai. The account, written by Homiar Hathiram and published on sethnas.org, describes how the Rovers were called in "literally the night before" to shift the structure rather than dismantle and rebuild it.

The Kappawala Agiary scaffolding move (8 April 2012)

What the task involved

The scaffolding had been built around the eastern side of the agiary so the facade could be cleaned. It then needed to be moved across the entrance of the agiary to reach the western frontal facade. Dismantling and rebuilding a structure of that size would have taken considerable time and effort, so the Rovers were asked to move it intact instead.

How the team was assembled

  • A "Service" update was sent by SMS and Facebook to a group of Rovers.
  • Those who responded positively formed a six-member team.
  • The team was ready for service on the Sunday morning.

What the account highlights

The write-up credits the Rovers with using "their brains, brawn and bravado" to move what it calls a mammoth structure. Two things stand out for anyone reading it as a record of how the group operates:

  • Short-notice mobilisation. The call came the night before, and the team still formed in time for a Sunday morning start.
  • Problem-solving over brute force. The value the Rovers added was in moving the scaffolding without the cost of dismantling and rebuilding it.

What the site does and does not cover

The blog excerpt on sethnas.org lists this Rover service activity alongside other posts, including:

  • "A 100 Years Ago Today" (14 August 2014)
  • "The Sea Scout Troop Golden Jubilee Celebrations" (24 October 2012)
  • "Golden Jubilee of Sea Scout Troop" (18 October 2012)
  • "Rovers Offer Service At Kappawala Agiary" (9 April 2012)

The listing continues across five pages, so further service reports may exist beyond the excerpt. If you are researching the group's full service record, the blog archive is the place to check page by page rather than relying on the first page alone.

Context for the activity

The Sethna's 18th West Bombay Scout Group was founded by Scouter Rustomji Edulji Sethna in 1914 and was conducted by Sethna's Scouting Society. Its Sea Scout Troop was started in 1962 by Scouter S.R. Daroona. The Kappawala Agiary service took place in the same year the group marked the Sea Scout Troop's golden jubilee and approached its own centenary, which is useful background for understanding the group's emphasis on service at that time.