Juhu, Dadar benefit from beach sanitation drives

MUMBAI: Alongside Versova, other prime beaches like

Dadar Chowpatty

and Juhu are undergoing a transformation towards cleanliness since the past few months.

Residents of Juhu have formed a volunteer group named Forward 69 ('for ward 69") which monitors the beach clean up on a regular basis. Local NGOs, corporators Renu Kapoor and Rohan Rathod, MLA Ameet Satam as well as prominent residents like psychiatrist

Anjali Chhabria

actively participate.

"We are persuading residents and shopkeepers to avoid littering and stop using plastic. Recently we held a rally urging shopkeepers to avoid giving plastic bags and switch to cloth or paper bags. Refuse, reuse and reduce is the mantra. Our new focus is the cleaning of nullahs which is the source of garbage flowing iinto the sea," said Chhabria.

Dadar beach is currently benefiting from two parallel sanitation drives every Sunday. Jay

Shringarpure

and his team have been working along the seafront since 38 weeks. Another NGO Aarna led by Thane's

Chinu Kwatra

stepped in 17 weeks ago.

Shringarpure said, "I realised the magnitude of the problem when my seven-year-old daughter Zara could not play there, it was so dirty. That was when the Versova beachfront drive was being highlighted and I felt I should replicate the effort on home ground. So I gathered neighbours and friends and now approximately 50-80 of us arrive each Sunday to pick up litter. The civic authorities have been most cooperative in clearing trash."

Kwatra started work during

Ganeshotsav

when thousands of idols are immersed off Dadar. Students of VPM RZ Shah College, Satish Pradhan Dnyansadhna College, Swami Vivekanand College of Management have helped since the start.

All these groups say much of their work came undone during Cyclone Ockhi when the angry waves deposited enormous waste back onto the shore. But the volunteers overcame their disappointment, wore their gloves and gumboots and started over.

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