Dirty Pictures Of The Coldplay Venue May Have Gone Viral But Do You Know The Guys Who Were There To Clean Up?
There was a team of volunteers who helped clean up the venue
There¡¯s absolutely no denying the fact that the Coldplay concert at the Global Citizen India Festival in Mumbai¡¯s MMRDA Grounds was phenomenal. Everything was perfect and it¡¯s safe to say that the 80,000 people who tottered home that night had had the time of their lives.
Whether or not you attended the concert, you¡¯d know it created somewhat of a hue and cry when it was first announced. The reason initially was the unbelievably high price of the tickets. However, the format of a Global Citizen initiative was soon revealed and fans were made to understand that they had to perform social actions in the spheres of women empowerment, gender equality, poverty alleviation, and sanitation and hygiene, among others to win tickets - for free. In fact, the achievements of the efforts were even highlighted on stage!
The concert last Saturday was a dream, and went on without any hiccups. But soon enough, reports started emerging about how the very people who had pledged social actions to help India attain its Sustainability Goals were the same lot littering the hell out of the venue. Social media was abuzz with pictures of litter strewn all over, and quite likely half of all the plastic bottles in India, decorating the grounds.
Facebook/JubinJacob
But what a lot of reports missed was the fact that Global Citizen India had a team of over 60 youngsters, as volunteers, in place who came right back the day after the greatest night this year - to clean the entire venue. The initiative was a collaboration between Bandra-based NGO Swachhalay and Global Citizen Festival India.
The Coldplay concert might have started in the evening, but the whole Global Citizen Festival itself had begun at 3 in the afternoon. The actual reason there was so much litter around was that there was a shortage of dustbins at the venue. "The amount of mess that would be created was estimated in advance, and hence measures were taken. The reason why so much waste was collected was because GCI was giving out free water to all 80,000 attendees. The housekeeping staff was constantly at work to clear up the areas and we ensured, along with team GCI that all the waste was cleared up and responsibly disposed off," said a spokesperson from the event.
Facebook/Global Citizen India
In fact, the guys at Global Citizen India shared a post on their Facebook page, calling out the heroes.
Facebook/Global Citizen India
The post read:
A huge shoutout to our team of volunteers who spent all day yesterday cleaning up the garbage from MMRDA ground! This was part of a cleanliness drive organised by Swachhalay in collaboration with #GlobalCitizenIndia. All the plastics and metals will be recycled, while all the organic waste will be composted. Thank you, team!
You can view the full post here:
Good on you, guys. Here's hoping we all take a leaf out of their book and focus on becoming responsible global citizens.
Mallika is your typical nomad. Having studied in boarding school, she lived in the back of beyond most of her life, and shifted to full-fledged city life only when she was 18. She loves music, and can have countless arguments on how Aerosmith is the greatest rock band of all time. She also loves food, and has made it a point to try out one exotic dish in her kitchen every week. Because we live to eat. Get in touch for long, interesting conversations and a warped perception of the world.
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