From rag picker to Srinagar’s Swachata ambassador: tracing Bilal Dar’s journey

Srinagar’s Swachata ambassador, Bilal Ahmed Dar is unfazed by his new-found fame. In the last one month, his posters have dotted Srinagar’s streets, and the media has not stopped following him ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi showered him with praises for actively cleaning up Kashmir’s Wular lake. 
But, the 17-year-old maintains his unassuming self; he surely is happy, though not overwhelmed.

“Previously, there were many who laughed at me and ridiculed me for picking up plastic and other trash off the Wular, but after I was made the brand ambassador (of Srinagar Municipal Corporation) and managed to support the marriage of my sister with the money earned by selling off Wular’s trash plastic, they now look at me with respect,” Bilal told DNA on the sidelines of the 9th CMS Vatavaran –an international film festival and forum on environment and wildlife. 

He hails from the impoverished Laharwarpora of Bandipora district in Kashmir. On a daily basis, Bilal earned anywhere between Rs150 to Rs200 by selling plastic trash collected from the lake.

Having lost his father to cancer at an early age, Bilal has been cleaning the Wular lake to support his family of two sisters and mother since he was 12. He was a special guest at the festival, where the award-winning film on him and Wular “Saving the Saviour” by Srinagar-based filmmaker Jalal Ud Din Baba was screened and bagged two awards.
 
He had received a formal order from Srinagar’s civic body has also appointed him as its brand ambassador for the cleanliness mission and has offered a monthly salary of Rs 8,000, a vehicle and a shikara for his campaign for him to move around and sensitise people about cleanliness and environmental issues. 

Having dropped out of school in his eighth grade, he has now been offered admission in the 9th grade of a school, where he aims to attend classes from November 10. 

“I will be attending classes, but my first priority is to support my family,” he said, adding, “As part of my new role, I did go around and spoke to people about the Swachata drive, but I have been waiting for more such work.” He is excited, but also worried as he is used to receive last month's salary.

He had sought employment from the PM, he had got a job offer from the state government. However, he can take that up only after he turns 18. “But even then, I will never abandon Wular,” he said.

However, Jalal ud din Baba, who has been in touch with the city’s new municipal commissioner, said Bilal would soon be getting his remuneration.

“The brand ambassador is more of an honorary position, where Bilal could sometimes participate in the cleanliness awareness campaigns of the municipal corporation. It was never the plan to bog him down with work,” Baba told DNA. 
“In fact, he will be joining the school once we go back and we have formed a group which will be actively involved in cleaning Wular. Bilal will be part of that group,” said Baba.

Baba won three awards for two of his films screened at the festival where 113 films were nominated. Speaking about the growing awareness about environment among Kashmiri filmmakers, he said it is probably the visible effects of climate change in Kashmir that is drawing filmmakers to the cause.  The films festival received 10 films from J&K, of which four films were selected.
“This year, it snowed in April. Then there were the floods in 2014. Such changes are also damaging the produce of Kashmir such as saffron, almonds and apples,” he said. 
Talking about the Wular lake which is 60km away from Srinagar, he said what was once the largest fresh water lake of Asia has vastly reduced its river expanse in the last many years, like most other lakes of Srinagar. 
“Wular was always there in my blood. And when I met Bilal and heard his story, I was touched and decided to tell the world about him through my film,” he said.