Last week, nearly 100 people, mostly local residents, gathered at Mahim beach to pick up garbage. In two-and-a-half hours, the volunteers managed to collect nearly two tons of waste, mostly plastic and cloth. On Versova beach, a clean-up drive led by lawyer Afroz Shah has been ongoing since 2015, while Dadar Chowpatty is being cleaned by volunteers since the past 36 weeks.
The success of these clean-up drives along the city’s coastline in terms of response and results is inspiring more and more Mumbaikars to join such groups and focus on keeping the beaches free of waste.
Anwar Khan of the Dargah Street Advanced Locality Management (ALM) in Mahim says the plan is to gather every alternate week and clean the seaside stretch. “We plan to sustain the movement now. The garbage collected was mostly plastic bags, including milk bags, and bottles. We’re planning to spread the message of not dirtying the area among local residents as well.”
Mr. Khan said the beach clean-up drive had been started by local resident Indranil Sengupta and his wife on weekends. “They are accompanied by some of their supporters. We now plan to make it a wider movement.” He added that the Mahim beach clean-up has been on since 2015, but sporadically. This, he said, will change now.
Dadar beach on track
A much bigger clean-up movement is being carried out at Dadar beach too. Thane resident Chinu Kwatra, who runs a non-profit called Aarna Foundation, has been organising such drives for 36 weeks. Mr. Kwatra and volunteers have collected 210 tons of garbage so far. “We all gather on Sundays and clean up the beach stretch from Kirti College to Worli village. Our aim is to clean up the stretch, beautify it and make it a tourist attraction,” he said.
Mr. Kwatra said their drive started in August 2017 after the Ganpati visarjan, and was extended after they learned that locals had stopped visiting the beach due to the filth. He said a huge amount of garbage from Worli village was being brought back by the sea during high tide.
“Over the past two months, we have taken up the task of cleaning this side, for which we are working on Saturdays too.”
Akshay Mandhare, 23, a mass media student from Thane, has been volunteering for the Dadar clean-up drive since it started. “I always wanted to be a part of something that makes a difference. When we first visited the beach, it was as good as a garbage dump. I thought contributing to this cause was my best bet.”
Visible difference
Mr. Shah, the driving force behind the Versova beach clean-up drive, said such endeavours shouldn’t become an event. “Mumbai has started this movement of sorts of cleaning the beaches. We have to keep doing it consistently. When I started in 2015, I didn’t think other citizens will participate in such a big way. It’s all very inspiring.” He feels more school and college students should be involved at the ground level, so that a long-lasting difference can be made.
Surender Mehta, who moved to Dadar in 2016 from Bandra as it was closer to his son’s school, said, “In Bandra, I would often walk by the seaside at Bandstand and even along Carter Road. When I went for beach walks in Dadar, it was very disappointing: the place was like a huge garbage bin.” Eventually, he stopped going on such walks
His tryst with the city’s seafronts resumed after a recent visit to the beach at Dadar. “The volunteers have been working tirelessly to clean the beach. The difference was dramatic. Garbage may keep coming back with the tide, but the place is far better that what it was.”
