World Environment Day 2023: How zoomers unite to clean up Mumbai beaches

The sunny island city of Mumbai is about to witness a cleaner Mithi River bank. In an attempt to reverse the ecological degradation of Mithi, Beach Please, a youth-led community, is uniting to cleanse the riverfront today at the Mahim Causeway Slope. Led by Malhar Kalambe, 25, the clean-up drive is part of a bigger mission that was born in 2017.

As the festivities of Ganesh Chaturthi came to an end in 2017, college goer Kalambe noticed how deeply pollution has penetrated into the city's beaches. Irked by the sight of endless plastic, he expressed his concerns to his mother. Kalambe questioned his mother about the grave difference between the beaches in Mumbai and those abroad. In return, the mother asked: "If you have a problem with it, why don't you do something about it?"

This was the end to his distress and the beginning of a journey to scrub clean the city's beaches. To countermand the onslaught of man-made disasters at Mithi, Kalambe pitched the idea to his friends in college. "After witnessing the condition of the only river in the city, our group decided to clean the Mithi river bank near Mahim just before it merges in the Arabian Sea where no one wants to pay attention," Kalambe told Mid-day.com.

Beach Please: A youth community from Mumbai
Upon noticing the degradation of Mithi, Kalambe, founded Beach Please to preserve the river's ecosystem. It is a youth community formed by the youth, for the youth. "We believe that young people are the real changemakers that can bring about a revolution in the world," echoed Kalambe.

The movement of impact began in September 2017. It was meant to be a one-time thing as Kalambe couldn't foresee the results it would yield. Initially, the response he received was bleak because the area was filled with sewage, plastic, scrap clothes and other filthy items. To add to this, there was an additional problem of debris and open defecation which deterred many from stepping in.

However, the idea did seem noble to twenty students and thus began Kalambe's "resolute army". They managed to clean only a part of the beach but the whole experience was very invigorating, shares Kalambe. As they put on gloves and safety gear every weekend, Mumbaikars began to make way for Mumbai's young beach cleaners. What started out a school reunion has now turned into a youth movement.

Kalambe makes it a point to lead by example. "While conducting our regular clean-ups across Mumbai, I come across volunteers who are skeptical of getting into the Mangroves. But, when they see me and my team members step into the brackish water, they feel motivated to join us. That's why I believe that any initiative requires leadership that sets an example."

A movement of impact
What started as an act of distress has now garnered patrons from all walks of life. Beach Please has been working for the last 300+ weeks to clean 65,00,00 lakh kilograms of garbage from Mumbai's coastline. They have actively involved more than 2,50,000 volunteers through their movement of impact. With their constant efforts, they have proved how dynamic the role of youth is in transforming society.

Every weekend, the group organises clean-ups at the Mithi River bank and the Mangrove Forest, Airoli. Volunteers turn up in scores to pick up and segregate debris that mars the beauty of Mumbai's coastline. Kalambe reveals that influential people like Aditya Thackeray, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sanya Malhotra, and Bhumi Pednekar join the young beach cleaners at these clean-up drives.

"When public figures join our initiative, it helps us to reach out to more people with our message. They have a wider audience which revers them and looks up to them." This has helped us grow into huge numbers.

Backbone of the campaign
In his journey to revamp Mumbai's coastline, Kalambe has been criticized by many. When he started the movement, he was only 19 and thus his motives were doubted. "People did not believe in my idea because I was too young," said Kalambe. However, he found a few like-minded people who shared the same conviction.

Beach Please now has fifty members in its core team. Most of the people who signed up in the initial days of clean-up drives have stood by the mission. Kalambe clarifies that it's not just him but the entire team that is instrumental in taking the movement ahead. "I have been the face of the movement but it is the team that is the backbone of the whole campaign," he says.

Woes of Mithi River
The 11-mile-long stretch of Mithi River emerges from Vihar Lake in the middle of Mumbai. It crosses the city through Powai, Saki Naka, Kurla, Kalina, Vakola, Bandra-Kurla complex, Dharavi and Mahim. The river finally meets the Arabian Sea at Mahim Creek. The creek has been encroached upon by the local fishermen community. A panel was set up to analyse the cause of the 2005 Mumbai floods that occurred during monsoon and killed over 1,000 people. The panel revealed that the encroachment on the banks of the Mithi River had aided the disaster. Many more slums have come up along the riverbed since then.

Based on the Salsette Island of Mumbai, the river receives its incoming water from Powai and Vihar lake. Over the years, the river has become a dumping ground for sewage, industrial as well as municipal waste. Not only this, several unchecked activities like washing vessels, dumping animal waste, and releasing chemical and bioactive waste have also polluted the river. This not only threatens the people living on the banks but also directly attacks the marine ecosystem.

Municipal authorities have been putting in efforts to clean up the beaches. However, Kalambe believes that if they clean up the mangrove ecosystem and the Mithi river bank, the problem can be addressed at its roots. These two areas are the primary source of waste that gets transported to other beaches.

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