beach cleanliness programmes

Bombay High Court

Versova and Daanapani beaches

One of the participants of the community service programme said cleaning the beach taught him humility and selflessness

Court-mandated involvement inhas made people change themselves for the better and give back to society.Suresh (name changed to protect identity) candidly admits that before meeting renowned environmentalist Afroz Shah last year, he had “never cleaned anything, let alone a beach”.Suresh is among at least three persons who were in the past year put by theon a monthlong beach cleanup community service roster under Shah’s guidance in lieu of getting FIRs quashed.Using community work as a form of reformative justice has already begun to yield results—there has been a massive psychological change in three of them; another is set to begin helping out with the cleanup next week.Suresh says learning selflessness was the biggest takeaway for him. In 2017, he and his brother allegedly barged into a hotel at 2.30 am, demanded that it be opened and waved toy guns at the management. When the case came up for hearing in October last year, the brothers asked that it be dismissed. The HC put forward a condition: that they work with Shah two hours a day for a month or face further legal proceedings.Their choice changed their lives forever.“The experience [of cleaning the beach] was educational. I had never done something like that before. I cleared garbage and learned to connect with nature. I was practically serving nature! After seeing so much plastic waste, I learnt to avoid plastic in my day-to-day activities,” says Suresh.But being cognisant of his carbon footprint wasn’t all he learned. “It changed my way of thinking—I learned humility and selflessness because people from all age groups and social strata worked side by side on the beach. All they strived for was to give back to nature and society,” he says.The citizen-driven initiative transformed him. “It helped me grow as a person. I now realise I’m only a small part of nature’s bigger plan,” says Suresh.Shah confirms that Suresh and brother have turned over a new leaf. “They reported to me and I had to prepare a daily report on their work, and submit a compiled copy to the police at the end of the month,” he says, adding that there is more to beach cleanups than picking up litter. It’s a way to better one’s personality, he asserts.The brothers, he says, found a purpose to their lives. “At the end of the month, they were raring to do more in the service of nature.”Shah applauds the HC for not letting settlement of FIRs through financial contributions to social causes.He says in the second case of courtordered beach cleaning, a teenager accused of stalking was put in his care. The judge had observed while passing the order on July 17 that if the youngster was asked to pay up, his father would end up paying on his behalf. “The court felt community service would do him good,” says Shah.The youngster will complete his eight hours a week, month-long community service this week. “I took him to clean Versova and Daanapaani beaches, and later to the Mithi river,” says Shah. The latter was a crucial part of his training on circular economy, which showed him how slumdwellers were taught not to throw garbage in the river.The HC on August 27 also sent a “serial” public interest litigant to the beach on to prove his bonafide that he is indeed a social activist. The litigant starts work on September 2, and beach the cleanup, he will train commercial establishments and slumdwellers in the vicinity of Sanjay Gandhi National Park in the evenings to reduce plastic usage. He will also undertake cleaning of, and on Sundays, he’ll head for the Mithi river.Through such community services, the HC is allowing people to better themselves, says Shah. “And the first step towards doing this is to roll up their sleeves, put on gloves and get knee-deep in muck,” says Shah.