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This story is from April 1, 2018

Versova Beach: After Ridley turtles arrive, shipping ministry plans for an integrated blue print

Versova Beach: After Ridley turtles arrive, shipping ministry plans for an integrated blue print
MUMBAI: Days after Olive Ridley hatchlings made their awe inspiring presence felt at Versova Beach for the first time in two decades, the top brass of Shipping ministry made a visit too, to join in the and plan for “an integrated clean up.”
Additional Director General, Shipping, Amitabh Kumar in his debut visit at the now much cleaner looking beach on Sunday morning with around 500 others and together cleared out garbage from the sandy stretch near Versova Jetty.
Nearly 45 tons of plastic and other litter was cleared out by enthusiastic volunteers from National Union of Sea fares of India during a Maritime Week.
“We decided two things. Will have a quarterly affair with the clean up and we will draw up plans for a coordinated approach to tackle both, land based and ship-based littering, ‘ Kumar told TOI on Sunday. The UN Champion of the Earth Afroz Shah, a Versova-based lawyer who had begun the campaign in October 2015 with just a elderly neighbour by his side and a dream to make the beach clean again, had urged that there should be a “long term integrated approach and environment protection cannot just be a day’s event.’’
Mumbai 1
Students of 4th and 5th standards keen to protect the environment
Kumar said his aim is to “tie up with all Shipping companies to use their Corporate Social Responsibility units to join in too.’’ As a first step, we will also call in experts and try prepare a blue print on methods to adopt,’’ he added admitting that though aware of the largest beach clean up campaign started by Mumbai advocate Afroz Shah, seeing all the litter on the beach still “came as a surprise.’’
“Ships that come under DG Shipping follow strict pollution control regulations, but there are other vessels that don’t come up our purview,’’ he said.

Kumar was joined by director finance of Shipping Corporation of India, H K Joshi, former director of SCI and Indian National Ship Owners Association, SM Rai, vice principal, Anglo Eastern Maritime Academy, Mahesh Subramanian and VK Bhandarkar, a master mariner for 40 years and also plastic manufacturers who were trying to enforce Extended Producers’ Responsibility (EPR).
Meanwhile, PlastIndia Foundation also on Sunday stepped in formally as promised in January to maintain and operate the two machines, an excavator and tractor gifted by superstar Amitabh Bhachchan.
Turtle savers

A core team of volunteers including Aman Keshwani, Rohan Kotwalkar, Chandan Bibwe and Dinesh Thakur with Afroz later spent two hours in an awareness building to educate slum dwellers at Siddharth Nagar in Four Bungalows in recycling and monetising plastic. Residents were receptive and immediately collected over 15 kgs of plastic for recycling. School children playing in the narrow dusty lanes of the slums were keen to learn, their young minds willing to be moulded in a manner that benefits the environment and future generations.
On April 4, Raymond Johansen, governing mayor of Oslo, will visit a school with Shah to speak on its recognition of the city as European Green capital.
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About the Author
Swati Deshpande

Swati Deshpande is Senior editor at The Times of India, Mumbai, where she has been covering courts for over a decade. She is passionate about law and works towards enlightening people about their statutory, legal and fundamental rights. She makes it her job to decipher for the public the truth, be it in an intricate civil dispute or in a gruesome criminal case.

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