Every Sunday, citizen volunteers will dedicate two hours for the clean-up drive at forts
After the beach clean-up initiative, Mumbaikars are stepping forward to tidy five forts in the city, and the first on the agenda is the Sion monument, from where 25 bagfuls of garbage was removed last Sunday.
According to Sangam Pratishthan NGO, which is spearheading the drive, the year-long initiative aims to spruce up Mumbai's five famous forts — at Sion, Sewri, Bandra, Mahim and Worli.
The NGO has obtained the permission of the archaeology department for the clean-up mission.
Volunteers, who for the most part are collegians and school students, will clean up Sion Fort for the first few weeks and plan measures which can be taken to preserve the cleanliness — a formidable task given habitual littering by many visitors.
Komal Ghag, a member of the NGO, said, "We have been part of the Mahim and Dadar beach clean-up drives. Many people came forward to save the beaches. We wanted to start an initiative at other landmarks of the city which do not see much in the way of maintenance. After exams, my friends along with other college and school students joined hands to clean up the forts. We started with Sion fort because we reside in nearby areas."
Rajeshree Shirwadkar, corporator from Sion, said, "The jurisdiction of the Sion Fort is divided between archaeology department and BMC. Maintaining the cleanliness is a big challenge. Most of the waste comprises plastic bottles and discards from anti-social elements like junkies."
He added, "Public awareness will go a long way in keeping the premises clean. Through this initiative, we will be able to get citizens' involvement in this community and civic project."
Tanaji Ghag, who works in the BMC's solid waste management department and is helping the NGO, said, "As citizens, we should step forward to clean up the forts and other landmarks. The BMC is helping us in disposing of the garbage collected from the fort."
PITCHING IN
- Every Sunday, citizen volunteers will dedicate two hours for the clean-up drive at forts.
- A corporator said a pit is being planned to collect garbage.
- During day one of the drive last Sunday, BMC helped the volunteers with disposing of garbage.
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