On 2 November 2019, TERI's Western Regional Center (WRC) helmed a cleanup campaign along the mangroves
TERI's Western Regional Center (WRC), Mumbai is an implementation partner for outreach activities in Mumbai, under the Project entitled 'Promotion of countermeasures against marine plastic litter in Southeast Asia and India' funded by United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP).
As a part of the project, a pilot cleanup activity was organized at two mangrove areas adjacent to Vashi creek - Sagar Vihar and Mini Seashore in Vashi, Navi Mumbai. A total of 18 volunteers including TERI staff, local residents and school students conducted the cleanup in 2 teams. All participants were provided safety equipment- masks and gloves, and briefed about the cleanup guidelines, prior to the cleanup.
A total of 280 kg (130kg from Sagar Vihar and 150Kg from Mini Sea shore) of waste was collected. It was then segregated into categories like packaging material, plastic bottles, fabric, glass, metal and so forth, as per the UNEP guidelines. The segregated waste was handed over to the staff of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) – C ward, Vashi.
The school students also made posters for the event which were displayed at the cleanup site. Further, volunteers from corporates (Edelweiss Tokio) and some citizen groups (Senior Citizen Group, Vashi) were also present at the site for cleanup. This showed that local citizens and organizations are aware of the rising concern about plastic pollution in the city.
The pilot activity was a great opportunity to reach out and spread the message of reducing and managing plastic waste. It also provided a chance to interact with likeminded stakeholders such as NMMC officials and corporate organizations, who could be involved in such activities in the future.
Read the full report of clean-up activity.