123Pune.com

Pune, September 27 Human bones, insect repellants, syringes, and tonnes and tonnes of plastic. These were found among the over 17 tonnes of garbage collected on Pune’s river banks in September last year during a massive cleanliness drive led by youth action group Friends Society as part of the International Coastal Clean-up (ICC). This year, the drive will focus on infusing sustainability in the cleanliness campaign, going beyond mere garbage collection to creating awareness about garbage reduction at source.

The ICC, an initiative of the Indian Maritime Foundation and Washington-based Ocean Conservancy coordinated by the Friends Society in Pune, is held simultaneously at water bodies across the world on September 15, and is held in Pune towards the end of September.

While one phase of the drive already began in Pune on September 22, the phases will be continued on Saturday, October 2 and 13. “This year, the campaign will be taken nationally, with a total of 11,000 participants expected in 27 cities including Hyderabad, Patna, Mysore and Bangalore,” said Friends Society Founder-President Darshan Mundada. Added to this will be over 4,000 students in Pune.

This year, the campaign will have some changes. “Last year, all 17 tonnes of garbage were taken by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to the landfill at Urali Devachi. This time we want to avoid as much landfill dumping, by recycling most of the garbage, especially the plastic bags, which constitute 43 per cent of the total collection,” said ICC Zonal Captain for Pune Ashish Rojatkar.

Besides, waste segregation will also be an essential component. Separate ‘green’ bags provided by the PMC will be used for biodegradable waste to be used for vermicomposting, while the black plastic bags will be recycled along with the dry and plastic waste gathered.

Yet the students admit that a one-time cleaning of the riverbanks is not enough. “Even after clearing garbage for hours, by the next day, the garbage comes back with the flood or rain water, and people start dumping again. Efforts need to be taken to urge citizens to refrain from indiscriminate dumping,” said Mundada.

Thus, teams of volunteers will be deployed to sensitise citizens. “We will also have teams adopting one specific site for sustained cleanliness drives throughout the year,” said Mundada.

The clean up on Saturday will begin at 9 am from the Rajaram Bridge, moving to Koregaon Park Bridge. Apart from students from various colleges, children from NGOs like Manavya, Ekalavya, Poona School and Home for the Blind, and so on will also participate.

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