Cleaning up the beaches

Approximately 12,500 idols were immersed this year at Girgaum Chowpatty, leaving behind a colossal 150 tonnes of waste. This waste, which included broken and partially melted idols along with the puja essentials like flowers, garlands, prasad, etc., put forth a mammoth task for the civic body to handle.

But in a big-hearted city like Mumbai, it's not surprising to see 1,000-plus people, volunteering from different organisations, schools, NGOs and colleges and doing their best to help the civic body. The clean-up work was a speedy affair as volunteers worked round the clock and ensured that every inch of the beach was scanned and cleaned.

Vinodini Lulla, Trustee, Children's Movement for Civic Awareness, says, "We had close to 700 children coming from 13 schools to clean the beach. The kids were kicked about the entire cleaning process as they are extremely conscious about the environment."

Lulla, who has been steering the cleaning of beaches for eight years now, believes that this year was tough for her team. "The beach was at its worst this year; I haven't seen so much mess in the last eight years."

Parag Masurkar, Assistant Municipal Commissioner, D/Ward, says, "It's great team work; around eight organisations had come forward to join the brigade. The cleaning work is going on smoothly."