Marine Life of Mumbai (MLOM) is a citizen-driven collective that brought much-needed public attention to coastal biodiversity and habitats in the urban environs of the city. A community that started out with an outreach programme of organising shore walks for the citizens, gradually led to creating a database of photographs using GPS location, which was eventually put to use by activists and organisations who petitioned against the coastal road project in Mumbai. "We never imagined that something we did just for fun would be used for such an important cause," says Sejal Mehta, editor and head of outreach and communication at Marine Life of Mumbai.

Sarang Naik