Mega cleanup drive in Aarey, record 94 tonnes of waste pulled out

In a mega cleanup drive in the Aarey area of Mumbai on the occasion of World Environment day a record 94 tonnes of waste was pulled out on MondayMumbai competes with Delhi on reportedly being most polluted cities in the country in terms of Air Quality Index AQI The city has the Aarey forest also said to be the green lungs of Mumbai With multiple owners in form of dairy department forest department and jurisdictional issue with three MCGM wards P South K East and S ward Aarey becomes Mumbairsquos landfill in the making with many spots full of garbage and to add to it it is at times left unattended activists sayHowever Mumbairsquos wildlife conservation NGO and the Empower Foundation conducted a mega cleanup drive on the occasion of World Environment Day The NGOs had also conducted a cleanup drive last year Mumbais one of the largest housing complex in the suburbs Oberoi Splendor having 1450 apartments and housing more 6000 citizens led this initiative with Empower Foundation to conduct a mega cleanup drive at Aarey on June 5 2023Students of Oberoi International School also participated in this unique drive which got all the stakeholders together ndash led by MLA and exminister Ravindra Waikar MCGM P South and K East wards Aarey Dairy Department and Forest Department led by RFO Narendra Muthe and his staff The MCGM brought in huge machines including 5 JCBs 10 Dumpers 5 SCVs and Tempos along with 230 MCGM staff to participate in the mega cleanup driveAs many as 14 important zones and 35 spots of garbage and landfill were identified as the spots to be cleaned upMadhupa Chatterjee one of the lead volunteers from Oberoi Splendor pointed out that ldquoGarbage burning is a very big issue causing pollution and lack of regular garbage pick ups by MCGM has resulted in large landfills in Aarey where most of the time the garbage especially plastic is burned causing huge air pollution and impacting the citizens Oberoi Splendor has around 1500 children and many senior citizens and the rising air pollution issue has been impacting not just their health but also the health of students studying in Oberoi International School We have participated in this drive with an objective to curtail the air pollution issue and also ensuring that our citizens are aware of the importance of Aarey the green lungs of MumbairdquoConsistency is the key and MCGM needs to have a consistent process for garbage removal and Aarey Dairy taking ownership of its own land and garbage and encroachment on it was a unanimous voice of the citizens who participated in the drive Chatterjee saidThe Chairman of Splendor Complex CHS Ltd Colonel Arvind Gangoly on the occasion of the World Environment Day congratulated all the participants from the complex for participating in this drive and reiterated the importance of environmentHe said ldquoFor the first time the society has set up a Green Initiative vertical to look at environment related issues and this cleanup drive at Aarey being its maiden initiative is a citizens pledge to make this affair a consistent one by ensuring multifold activities like tree plantation adopting tribal padas for creating awareness on waste management and involving residents of Oberoi Splendor who are the key stakeholders in an important matter like environment and climate changerdquoMLA and exMinister Ravindra Waikar who has also been a part of the Aarey Cleanup drive last year was present in this mega cleanup drive and visited all the 35 spots to encourage the citizen and students and instructed the MCGM team to ensure regular pickup and management of waste To ensure that culprits littering the garbage and also illegally encroaching land in Aarey are brought to book Waikar announced installation of CCTV cameras not just at entryexit points but at all crucial points where there were garbage spotsFollowing the mega cleanup drive he also announced a mega tree plantation drive in Aarey in the forthcoming months He emphasised on the importance of environment and urged all the government departments like MCGM Aarey Dairy and Forest department to come together and workThe drive saw more than 300 citizens participate in this initiative as a result of which around 94 tonnes of waste was pulled out of Aarey 34 tonne was mix waste and 60 tonnes of debris waste The waste as analysed by Empower Foundation was a mix of dry and wet waste and also illegally dumped large construction debris left over food allegedly thrown by caterers and medical waste was found during the driveDr Jalpesh Mehta Founder Chairperson of Empower Foundation confirmed that ldquoAround 40 per cent of the waste has its source inside Aarey thrown by settlements and illegal encroachments while a large 60 per cent waste has come from outside like construction debris and catering food illegally dumped into Aarey at night and also tourists littering plastic and glass bottles on weekends Lack of regular garbage pickup has magnified the problems Garbage becomes food for cows goats hens and pigs and it attracts leopards that leads to attacks A consistent garbage pickup process by MCGM is the only solution and citizen volunteers now being mapped to areas in Aarey along with the MCGM counterparts will monitor their mapped areas and this could be a good and consistent solutionrdquo