Navi Mumbai residents pledge to stop lake turning into dump yard

It was a day well-spent for 32-year-old Ridhima Vyas.

It was a day well-spent for 32-year-old Ridhima Vyas.

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Saturday morning saw Vyas with other volunteers collecting garbage from the lake at Sector 35 in Kharghar.

“I took a pledge not to throw waste anywhere. We should all be responsible citizens and preserve the water bodies,” said Vyas, a resident of Kharghar.

Around 15 Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) officials along with residents took part in ‘Adopt the lake’ cleanliness drive on Saturday.

Kishore Patel, health officer of PCMC, said, “We regularly help residents in cleanliness drive. After cleaning, we transport the trash to the dumping ground.”

A truckload of debris and garbage including thermocol and plastic was collected and sent to the dumping yard.

Volunteers have planted 50 saplings around the lake in the past one year. They also take care and maintain the saplings, especially during summer.

Amarnath Singh, 38, a resident of sector 35, said, “The effort is to keep the lake premises clean, plant more trees around the lake area and restore the ecosystem.”

Although six members clean the lake for two hours every day, this was the first drive since the city saw heavy downpour in the past two weekends.

“To discourage dumping plastic and thermocol waste we have demarcated a dedicated area and installed a net which people should use for dumping the waste rather than throwing it in the lake and polluting it,” said Singh.

The lake at Sector 35 in Kharghar is rich in flora and fauna. But for the past few years, the lake has become a dumping ground. Alarmed by the destruction, residents who live near the lake took it upon themselves to save the lake.

On Saturday, residents cleaned till the Taloja side of the lake.

Dharmendra Kar, 45, a green activist, said, “Among all the waste, thermocol is the worst. Although it has been banned, people still use themocol products and dump them. This will eventually destroy our ecosystem.”