'It's Not Too Late': Meet Chinu Kwatra, The Guy Who Cleaned 200 Tonnes Of Garbage In 24 Hours

India has become synonymous to pollution and we've sort of learnt to live like that with the ¡®chalta hai¡¯ attitude. But to 27-year-old Chinu Kwatra and his team of 1500 volunteers who call themselves 'Beach Warriors', this was not acceptable. They cleaned up the Worli Fort area, mopping up 200 tonnes of garbage in a record time of 24 hours. They even earned themselves a place in the Limca Book of Records.

Their initiative generated a lot of buzz all over the country garnering support and appreciation.

People support a good initiative

While talking about his wish to take the cleaning drive to other parts of the nation, he said ¡°I wish to take this cleaning drive forward and I want genuine people to join this movement. The next will be Pune and then we will be moving ahead. For now, the metro cities we will target are - Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, and support from local people will be great for our work."

On the flipside, some people also felt this was the government¡¯s job, and that regular people should not be doing this. ¡°Kachrawale hai na kachra uthane ke liye, why are you guys doing it?¡± they said.

Beach Warriors with Guru Randhawa and Diya Mirza

We have forgotten Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati

Talking about Varanasi, Haridwar and the rivers in India, Kwatra said ¡°All the historical and tourist places should be targeted. We¡¯re not too concerned about whether or not the government stands with us, we shouldn¡¯t care because, in the end, we are the ones who have to live here.¡±

¡°Since my college days I have been hearing about the cleaning of these rivers, but there is no impact as such. Within 57 weeks of Dadar Beach cleaning, we are noticing a drastic change, but nothing has been done for the rivers. Sadly, no one is taking care of the beauties India was known for (the rivers).¡±

¡°The best way to ensure maintenance is - I call people and tell them to clean the garbage because then they understand how hard it is to remove plastic from the sand- the same plastic they have been throwing conveniently. So the efforts they are putting will definitely change their mindset.¡±

¡°There is another problem in Mumbai - the ritual of immersing idols of Gods in the water, which is damaging the river. People say - ¡®Samudra hamara bhagwan hai aur bhagwan samudra me hi jaana chahiye¡¯, but I feel it is sad that to save one bhagwan you are destroying another one.¡±

Beach Warriors

Sincerity inspires glory

¡°Dadar Beach cleanup was basically a one-day activity to remove the idol remains from the beach shore after Ganesh Chaturthi, but my professor Ms Indu Mehta said that cleaning is not a one-day activity you need to take it further."

Days later, after coming across a Facebook post about the 24-hour Worli cleanup, she told Beach Warriors that they should apply for a Limca Book record. So, after the Worli cleanup, they sent the folks at Limca Book an email. And that was that - They earned themselves a place in the book.

Beach Warriors

We need better ways to deal with garbage

Sadly, the garbage collected goes to the landfills and the biggest problem is that it cannot be recycled as the sand and the other things are mixed with it. For that, they need to have a proper washing unit to clean plastic and get it recycled. Currently, it is going in the newly-started recycling unit of BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation).

It is never too late

Kwatra with the spirit of never losing hope said that ¡°It is never too late if I have started it now then my kids or the future generation can breathe after 20-25 years. We are progressing and adopting the western culture so why not adopt the no littering culture, our habits should be western and modern where you are thinking about the environment every second.¡±

Beach Warriors

I learnt to multiply happiness in 2018

¡°The most special moment/memory of 2018 was when hundreds of people on Dadar were enjoying cleaning up, that made me teary-eyed. I always treat my projects like my own baby, I have been a social activist for four and a half years, I quit my job and everything to work for the environment, women and underprivileged kids."

"Another special memory is that the ladies in my NGO were using ashes and leaves during their periods but now they are using proper sanitary napkins. We provide 500 sanitary napkins to these ladies every month."

"2018 gave me some beautiful people and beautiful memories with heartbreaks to cherish forever!¡±