Residents join hands to clean Thane creeks to mark International Coastal Cleanup Day

Thane residents including a few environmental activists came together to conduct a clean-up drive on Saturday on the occasion of the International Coastal Cleanup Day; TMC officials including the commissioner and District Collector of Thane joined this drive

Thane residents including a few environmental activists came together to conduct a clean-up drive on Saturday on the occasion of International Coastal Cleanup Day.

Residents cleaning the Kolshet creek in Thane on Saturday on the occasion of the International Coastal Cleanup Day. (PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT PHOTO)

The residents were at the creek from 7am to 9am and cleaned every creek area in Thane city. Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) officials including the commissioner and District Collector of Thane joined this drive with their team members at different places.

Ulhas Karle, a 74-year-old resident of Thane and in-charge of Kolshet creek area, said, “September 17 is celebrated as International Coastal Cleanup Day worldwide every year. In India this year, various programmes are being conducted all over the coastal areas to create awareness on preventing sea pollution. As a part of this mission, many NGOs in Thane are taking the lead to invite volunteers and create public awareness. At five different locations, we have created a link and shared it all over social media to register to join the cleanup drive.

“There were 572 participants who joined enthusiastically. These included 27 environmental NGOs and we collected 1,630 kg of coastal waste between 7am and 9am. Thane has five creek banks – Gaimukh creek, Kolshet creek, Mumbra Retibunder creek, Chendani Koliwada and Parsik creek. Residents across various age groups and NGOs were split in each creek according to their location and the cleaning drive began at 7 am. We have decided to continue this practice for a few more weeks.”

Vipin Sharma, TMC commissioner attended the cleanup drive near Kolshet creek. He said, “We have supported this initiative taken by some NGOs and residents to clean the creek banks. Kolshet has a historic Ganesh ghat and it is important to keep it clean from an ecological point of view. As we are taking several coastal development projects to maintain the balance of the environment, this initiative will be really helpful.”