THIS BEACH WARRIOR LEADS FIGHT AGAINST FILTH & APATHY
Armed with a pair of gloves and a troop of 20-odd regular volunteers sometimes it even goes beyond 100 , 27-year-old Chinu Kwatra heads out every weekend, to clean up the filth generated in tonnes by us earthlings, at Worli Fort and Dadar beach.
What started off as a one-day clean-up during August last year has turned into a movement which has now completed
44 weeks at
Dadar beach and
19 weeks at Worli Fort.
A former marketing professional and co-founder of NGO Aarna Foundation, Chinu, draws his inspiration from Afroz Shah who is known for Versova beach clean-ups. Nothing really deters him and his team of beach warriors from his clean-up drive, not even battering rains. Last Sunday, even with heavy rains pounding across the city, Chinu and his 35 volunteers (proudly call themselves ‘Beach Warriors’), who came from as far as Nerul, managed to clear a filthy patch of Dadar beach. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), too, extends its help in the form of JCB machines and other equipment to the team.
The team finds plastic bags, chappals, wallets, school bags, sanitary napkins, condoms (in huge number), nappy pads, gunny bags, Ganesh idols. “The toughest is Lord Ganesh’s dhoti which gets rolled up in the sand in such a way that it requires 7-8 volunteers to untie it,” says Chinu.
“Dealing with the apathy of locals poses challenge most of the times and patience is what the team has learnt over the ten months of this clean-up drive. Although the team sees several locals playing football or enjoying at the beach, they don’t offer to help and dismiss their clean-up drive as a publicity stunt. We get this quite often,” says Chinu, adding, “they look at us as if we are a crazy lot seeking media attention. The question ‘Who has asked you to do it?’ is often thrown at us. Earlier we used to argue with the ones who used to damage the environment but now we adopted a Gandhian strategy and clap whenever they throw any garbage. It works!”
Why Worli fort and Dadar beach, you ask? “To make them visible and popular to the tourists. Not many know about the beauty these two locations hold. However, cleaning the Worli Fort is tougher than cleaning Dadar beach. From the tip of Worli Fort you can see the amazing skyline of the city,” says Chinu. “What really bothers me is how the locals dump all of their garbage at the edge of the fort. They even defecate in open there,” he adds.
Staunchly supporting the plastic ban implemented by BMC, Chinu encourages people to stay calm and positive. “Citizens should understand that this ban is for their own good. They should not panic and stop using plastic. We, ourselves, have all switched to non-plastic items. The change should come from within. I encourage people to join me in the clean-ups because once they realise the pain and effort it requires to clean up a filthy beach or fort, they would stop littering. Pehle insaan bano,” he says.
(The team has chosen Worli Fort and Dadar beach as their projects) To make them visible and popular to the tourists. Not many know about the beauty these two locations hold. However, cleaning the Worli Fort is tougher than cleaning Dadar beach. From the tip of Worli Fort you can see the amazing skyline of the city. What really bothers me is how the locals dump all of their garbage at the edge of the fort. They even defecate in open there. — CHINU KWATRA, CO-FOUNDER OF NGO AARNA FOUNDATION