Filmcity asked to act by green groups

Mumbai: The Conservation Education Centre (CEC) of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has kickstarted a campaign to stress on the Filmcity authorities to take care of the degradable and non-degradable waste they generate and mostly discard it in the adjoining forests.

As a first part of this campaign, the CEC team involved about 100 volunteers from the Tata Consultancy Services for a nature awareness and cleanup drive. The volunteers focused on the road that leads from Filmcity Bus stop to the Hathi Gate of SGNP. The volunteers spent about an hour cleaning up this shared boundary between the Filmcity and SGNP and cleared about 120 kilograms of waste.

Waste dump at the shared boundary between the Filmcity and SGNP

A major bulk of this waste was alcohol bottles and the rest was plastic bags of various sizes, packets of various sizes, styrofoam pieces and sheets.

The collected waste was also discarded at the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) waste collection center at the Filmcity Gate.

The problem with this waste is that it has led to an unnatural supply of food for wild herbivores, especially wild pigs. This has led to increased sightings and the presence of these creatures. This year, this increase has led to the destruction of the forest herbs, shrubs and especially tubers and bulbs growing naturally on the forest floor.

A major part of the solution lies in discarding the waste in a proper manner, where it doesn't find its place in the forest.

More such actions are being organised in the coming days, says BNHS Director Kishor Rithe.