Children of Thane ragpickers get into creativity with message to save environment

The highlight of this work is that the artists are guiding children – sons and daughters of ragpickers working for Thane Municipal Corporation – in the age group of 11 to 18 years to transform waste into something useful; the idea was to enhance artistic qualities of these children and also save environment

Thane artists have come together to make the best use of waste plastic bottles with a message to save the environment from plastic.

Children of Thane ragpickers during an activity session with plastic bottles to convey the message of save the environment. (HT PHOTO)

The highlight of this work is that these artists are guiding children – sons and daughters of ragpickers working for Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) – in the age group of 11 to 18 years to transform waste into something useful. The idea was to enhance artistic qualities of these children. This project has the support of the TMC.

The group of artists, called Swatva, has conceptualised a PET bottle installation using 10,000 bottles to be completed by October 2. An NGO working for the welfare of these children – Parisar Bhagini Vikas Sanstha – collaborated for the event by involving the young minds and providing PET bottles from their waste segregation centre. This is a part of the Indian Swacchata League inter-city competition by the Government.

Thane Municipal Corporation and a team called Thane Tigers has supported this activity under Upcycled Creative Making.

The project is led by Prof. Shripad Bhalerao and is conceptualised and designed by artist Nitant Hirlekar, both from Swatva.

Bhalerao said, “The installation intends to highlight the threat of increasing plastic across the globe and its severe impact on the environment. The highlight of this activity is that the school and college children who are part of the initiative are sons and daughters of ragpickers of Thane. Our team did not want to create any beautiful-looking installation from bottles as it glorifies the use of plastic in daily life. Instead, we wanted to send a strong message to the society through our creation. The shape will be like a tree with a strong message to show that plastic destroys everything.”

Mahesh Awhad, a 17-year-old Class 12 volunteer from Bhim Nagar, said, “I liked the concept when my mother told me about the activity. I can learn something creative out of this work. From 1.30pm to 5pm, I spend time here and do the work as guided by Nitant sir. We are enjoying creating it, the processes right from segregating bottles to connecting them to make small parts.”