'BaySwachh', say Mumbai students, post visarjan

As the Ganpati festival culminated on Sunday with Bappa’s visarjan, Mumbai’s band of cleanliness warriors got into action on the city’s beaches, yesterday morning. It was BaySwachh for Mumbai’s student fraternity, as they formed groups to pick up the remains of the idols as well as plastic, litter and other items that Mumbaikars left behind the night before.
Well-planned operation at Chowpatty
In action on the sands at Chowpatty...
The plan took off at 7 am at Girgaon Chowpatty, with several college and school students taking part in the drive. Says Rushabh Shah of Nagindas Khandwala College, “Around 19 of us reached at 7 am when the visarjan was still on for bigger idols. We picked up flowers, water bottles and close to 10 kilos of plastic bags with food and other items. Thermocol tea cups were also strewn around.”
The students of KC College had planned their course of action a month ago. Vinita Mehta, an SYJC Arts student, shares, “In all, 15 students took part in our voluntary ‘Beat Pollution with Bappa’ programme. We chose Giragon Beach, as the bigger Ganpatis, including Lalbaug Cha Raja, is immersed here. We collected 50 kilos of waste — glass bottles, segregated plastic waste and paper items such as décor, paper plates and garlands, etc.” They then handed it over to the BMC.
A sundown clean-up at Dadar
Volunteers during the post visarjan clean-up in the evening at Dadar Beach
The city’s green crusaders reached Dadar on Monday evening. Says Chinu Jeet Kwatra, “We did so as the tide was low at time, which made it possible to go into the water. Around 100 students of Thakur College (Kandivali) as well as BTM College (Mulund) participated in the drive. Dadar had close to 500 idols on the beach, so put in aggressive efforts.”
Versova beach was cleaned up in record time

Versova Beach was all cleaned up by 6.30 am! It is hoped that this will set a norm
Afroz Shah who planned the drive at Versova Beach, says, “Due to our work done over last 10 days we managed to clear the beach by 6.30 am for the first time in three years! It’s a positive sign and this should become the norm.”
Juhu reclaims its beach
Young cleanliness warriors at Juhu Beach
For students of National College (Bandra), the clean-up at Juhu was part of their social initiative, ‘Meterdown’ — a fest of the college’s BMS department. Says Tanmay Mundhra, a second year BMM student, “Around 40 of us were there at the crack of dawn with our NSS volunteers.” The students divided themselves into three teams, each collecting different types of waste — dry, wet, plastic etc. "As Juhu is a huge beach, this made it easier to cover the whole area. By afternoon, we hauled bags filled with Plaster of Paris (POP) pieces, flowers and materials used for the festival. As we walked along the shoreline, we also picked up leftover food,” Tanmay informs, adding, “Cleaning up after visarjan can’t be done in a single day”.
Sahil Shah, a second year Mass Media student of Usha Pravin Gandhi College, Vile Parle, shares, “As part of our lit fest, we cleaned the shoreline, and also went into the water to pick up idols and put them into the BMC crane.”
Full strength at Marve Beach
Even at an early hour, the students of Nagindas Khandwala College were out in full strength at Marve Beach, as part of Springz, their college fest. Parth Dhanesha, a TYB.Com student, says, “We had initially thought of being at Aksa beach, but changed our plan after it was decided that only eco-friendly Ganpatis would be immersed at Aksa. On the Marve beach, we found many plastic cutlery items, along with flowers. This is a smaller beach, but it’s also very populated, as many come here for immersion. But what was nice to see, was that as we were cleaning, people saw our efforts and started putting the trash in dustbins instead of throwing it around.”
More support needed
Feeling good after the day's work
Says Bhavya Shah, a first-year law student, who went cleanliness-hopping from Juhu Beach to Girgaon Chowpatty, “Students need support in their efforts. Mumbaikars must come forward to lend a hand. After all, the coast belongs to us all.”