Navi Mumbai residents trash India’s 3rd cleanest city title with plastic waste

City-based environmentalists undertaking regular clean-up activities of the creeks and mangrove belts expressed concern about the damage being done with the use of plastic and disposing of ceremonial waste

Navi Mumbai Just a week after Navi Mumbai was declared the third cleanest city in the country, the sight of over 1000 single-use plastic bags floating in the Nerul pond spoke volumes about residents’ apathy towards its award-winning achievement.

Navi Mumbai residents trash India’s 3rd cleanest city title with plastic waste

Ceremonial waste (Nirmalya) floating on the Nerul pond has put a question mark over conservation of nature and adopting sustainable practices. The pond was found strewn with plastic bags filled with garlands and decorations used during the just-concluded Navratri festival.

City-based environmentalists undertaking regular clean-up activities of the creeks and mangrove belts expressed concern about the damage being done with the use of plastic and disposing of ceremonial waste.

“It was an extremely disturbing sight. Multiple plastic bags stuffed into a bigger polythene bag were discarded carelessly into the pond. During the high tide, these bags will get washed away to the creek side putting mangroves in danger. I asked NMMC’s sanitary inspectors to undertake the cleaning activity,” said Dharmesh Barai, an activist known to clean the mangrove belt every week.

The activist questioned the apathy of residents and placed the onus on civic administration.

A similar situation prevailed at a pond in Kharkhar’s Sector 35. Activists called for a permanent solution with regards to recently-concluded Navratri celebration where the ponds were filled with all types of festive waste.

“We had recently undertaken a major cleaning drive of the pond, but now the entire waterbody is strewn with thermocol, garlands and plastic bags filled with puja material. Despite Nirmalya Kalash and notice boards requesting residents not to dump festive waste in water bodies, the response from citizens was very poor,” Kharghar-based activist Dharmendra Kar said.

Attending to the concerns raised, NMMC sanitary department undertook immediate cleaning work of the area and retrieved the plastic bags.

“There were multiple bags stuffed in one therefore the number of plastic bags removed from the pond was large. Residents ought to understand the seriousness of the issue. In fact, even while we were cleaning the premises, residents coming to dispose of the ceremonial waste dumped it in the water. Without hurting their religious sentiments, we convinced them to refrain from this harmful practice,” said an official from the sanitary department.