Mohammad Sali and Arun Das are not celebrities. But when it comes to keeping Kozhikode clean, they are shining stars. The duo has played a major role in cleaning up the Kozhikode beach on a daily basis for the last four years way before the ‘Swach Bharath’ movement caught up.
Arun Das met Mohammed Sali once during his morning walks on the beach in 2011. The latter was picking garbage from the beach in a sack. On another occasion, he was removing the weeds along the road. The man’s effort to do his bit to keep his city clean impressed Arun Das, who soon joined him.
Sali is an employee at Benoy marbles, while Arun Das is an electrical engineer. They engage in cleaning the beach every day for two hours in the morning except for Sundays when there are massive crowds.
On Tuesday, they were engaged in a service of a different sort, re-aligning the tiles on the Beach walkway.
“We noticed that the tiles were in disarray while participating in Run Kerala Run last week and decided to align them properly. The work started last week itself and has not moved more than 100 metres yet. But we are determined to finish this”, Arun Das told The Hindu .
Mr. Das said that the other morning walkers in the beach have been very helpful, though none of them joined the mission permanently. “Some are reluctant to pick waste. Some help financially to purchase equipment while some others join in the picking whenever they can,” he said remembering Gafoor and Sugunababu, who were part of the team that bagged an award for its service from Kozhikottukar Facebook community in 2012.
The group picks up waste from the beach from the area near Sea Queen Hotel to the Lions Park. Even the children who play football at the beach join at times.
There are some former NRIs like Razak Kinassery who wishes to keep the beach clean like in the Middle East. People no longer dump waste on the beach these days. The street vendors at the beach too are cooperating to keep the beach clean these days, he says.
Apart from the regular cleaning, the group is often engaged in filling the potholes around the city, clearing clogged drains during monsoon and solving water-logging issues in the roads. The group is well appreciated by the authorities who offer any possible help.
“This has become a way of life for us now. We feel bad if we did not do this one day,” Mr. Das said.
