On August 15, 2020, Independence Day, a group of 3 citizens with similar interests started a small initiative to clean mangroves.
Little did we know it would become a revolution and attract thousands of people.
On Sunday, they hosted the 100th week of mangroves clean-up drive - and so far they have cleared 100 tonnes of garbage.
The mission was started under the leadership of Dharmesh Barai with active support of Rohan Bhosle, a student of printing technology and Sriram Sankar, a working professional.
“Mangroves are very important, particularly for Mumbai and the larger Mumbai Metropolitan Region, where rapid development and infrastructure works are in execution,” Barai told DH, coinciding with the 100th week event. Maharashtra’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Sunil Limaye too attended the 100st celebrations at the Shiv Mandir near Karave Jetty off the Palm Beach in the satellite township of Navi Mumbai.
"After removing more than 100 tonnes of non-degradable waste in 100 weeks, we have realised that the oceans does not keep anything with itself. There is no such thing as throwing it away. Waste ultimately reaches the beaches or gets trapped in the mangroves. The most common waste we see is thermocol, shoes and plastic products. One of the most harmful waste that we find is the medical wastes such as blood bags, needles, test tubes,” he said.
Barai said that initial days of cleaning in the mangroves were tough.
“We did not know how to clean the area and where to dispose of the waste,” he said, adding that the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) has been providing us support since our initial days.
"They would collect all the garbage we removed from the mangroves. Later we realised that we need to wear gloves to ensure the safety of our volunteers,” he said, adding that over the last couple of years the Mangrove Soldiers have done a great job.
“Soon people started joining us from social media platforms and word of mouth….colleges, NGOs, corporate offices started to join our drives. Mangroves Foundation of Maharashtra recognised our work and provided us support,” he said.
Barai’s team also signed an MoU with the Mangrove Foundation of Maharashtra.
In 2022, Environment Life Foundation was officially registered and recognised as an NGO by the government.
Recently, the Ministry of Jal Shakti acknowledged the efforts taken to protect mangroves and aqua life by the team under the leadership of Barai.
“With ever increasing population and urbanisation, the amount of waste we generate is going to increase. Properly discarding our waste is every citizen's responsibility. Swaach Bharat is not only our government’s responsibility, we as citizens play an equal part in it. We hope people will come forward and give us their support,” he said.