Swachh Bharat: Cuffe Parade residents to clean up shoreline

The Prime Minister's Swachh Bharat campaign has new takers as Cuffe Parade residents decide to take matters into their own hands and clean up the shoreline. The local citizens will pick up brooms for two hours on May 20 to make their shoreline spotless, drawing inspiration from residents and locals in other parts of the city who have come together to make their beaches garbage-free.

"We are planning to clean the shoreline behind Jhulelal Mandir," said Padmakar Nandekar, secretary general of Cuffe Parade Residents Association (CPRA), which has called for the cleanliness drive. "There is lot of garbage and waste. We feel that if we clean the area, we, too, will be part of the Swachh Bharat campaign, in which we should and must participate. At the end, it is about making our city clean."

Over 50 residents are expected to participate in the cleanliness drive mooted by the citizens' group. "We had done this earlier and we thought why not do it again. We have sent messages to all our member building and expect at least 50 members to show up. All have been asked to come prepared, with proper shoes and other necessary things so that there is no problem," added Nandekar.

Hansu Pardiwala, another resident said: "It is extremely filthy and most of it is something that the sea throws back because citizens threw it at some point. We are living in this area and it is unpleasant to look at so much filth. For people who live near shorelines, all of it must be coming into their homes. Hence, we feel that we should clean it. In the last monsoon, a lot of it was even thrown and closer to where people live."

The Swachhh Bharat campaign was launched as a national movement by PM Narendra Modi in 2014. It aims to achieve the vision of "Clean India" by October 2, 2019.