No New Year hangover for Mumbai beaches

Residents living in the vicinity of beaches and near the shoreline will no longer dread the morning after the New Year’s celebration.

The residents have been repeatedly raising a stink about the mess left on the shores after the New Year’s revelry. The beaches in the city are thronged by thousands during New Year’s Eve which has leaves tonnes of garbage being strewn over there. But all this is set to change from the onset of the coming year.

After a series of complaints by the resident group, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) this New Year has instructed the workers to tidy the beach before next high tide sweeps the beach, after the night long celebration on December 31.

“Due to the lackadaisical attitude of workers on the beach, the leftovers of the parties on the beach enter the sea during high tides and spread the waste to other stretches. We have issued stringent instructions to these workers to clean the entire beach stretch before the next high tide,” said a senior civic official.

The city beaches are the largely frequented during New Years and are most preferred destination to host gatherings and party while toasting the incoming year. This has led to heaps of plastic bags along with paper cups and plates enmeshed with food leftovers and liquor bottles scattered on the shore.

Also the civic body will deploy double the number of workers deputed on the coastlines in the year’s end. “Popular beaches like Juhu Chowpatty, Marine line Chowpatty, Erangal beach near Aksa are several others that will have over 40 labourers hand picking and cleaning the beach stretch,” the official stated. Additional workers will also be manning the stretch of Gorai to Madh island to ensure that the beaches are clean before the tide comes in.

Meanwhile, failing to do so — the contractors will be slapped with hefty fine. “The idea is to instill the fear that any laxity will not be accepted. The beaches have to be cleaned on a war footing.  If a contractor fails to abide by our instruction, a fine of double of the amount which he gets daily will be deducted. The penalty will keep on adding up till the beach is filth-free,” the civic official added.