It was a day of 18-year-old Bilal Dar alias Billa of Laharwarpora of Bandipora district on Sunday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned his name in the Mann Ki Baat radio address.

Bilal Dar was 14-years-old when he started earning his living by picking up waste from the Wular Lake in Bandipora district of north Kashmir in 2013.

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Bilal's father Mohammad Ramzan Dar, who was also a ragpicker, died in 2003 due to cancer. Bilal took to collecting plastic trash and other waste material from the Wular lake which would fetch him Rs 150-200 per day, which helped him financially support his mother Mughali Appa and two sisters.

According to Srinagar Municipal commissioner Dr. Shafkat Khan, Bilal collects over 12,000 kg trash annually from the lake which besides earning him a livelihood, also helped get rid of pollution caused due to garbage thrown in the lake by the residents living nearby.

"I used to take somebody's boat in the wee hours of every morning and collect the rags from the Lake and which would fetch me some money after selling the same to trash dealers in the market," Bilal Dar told TOI.

It was a documentary produced by a Kashmiri film maker Jalal-u-Din Baba which depicted Bilal's life that brought him recognition. The documentary won several awards in Mumbai and in the US at film festivals, according to producer Baba.

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"Now we have appointed Dar as brand ambassador of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation. He will be given a special uniform and a vehicle to go and meet people in Srinagar's commercial and residential areas, to tell people the story of his work in Wular. This will help sensitise urban residents to understand value of environmental issues, cleanliness and garbage disposal," Dr Shafkat Khan said.

Bilal Dar said, "I am very happy today that my work even acknowledged by the no less than the prime minister of India Modi."

While Tassaduq Mufti, brother CM Mehbooba Mufti gave me a boat for collection of garbage from the lake, state government gave Rs. 50,000 for construction of house. Though this is meagre amount to build a house yet I am satisfied with whatever, help the government provided me, Bilal Dar said.

The world famous Wular Lake is on the verge of dying due to dumping of toxic debris, plastic, carcasses and much more.The Lake has reduced from 273 km to just 72 km of water expanse.

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Ironically, the present state BJP minister for Forest and environment ministry Lal Singh has stopped the funds allocated by the GOI for its conservation, the forest officials disclosed.

Soon after his father's death in 2003 Bilal had worked as a mechanic at an auto-repair shop and then as a helping hand at a tea shop but continued unrest in Kashmir valley forced him to take to the job of ragpicking inside the Wullar, Bilal recalled.

Bilal features in a documentary 'Saving The Savior - Story Of A Kid And Wular Lake' produced and directed by Jalal-u-Din Baba.

Bilal Dar thanked Prime Minister, who mentioned his name in his Mann ki Baat on Radio. He however, appealed to PM Modi to provide him a job as his family did not have any regular source of income.

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PM Modi on Sunday addressed the nation on the third anniversary of his Mann ki Baat radio programme, saying an ideological movement is needed to make cleanliness a norm across the country. This was the 36th episode of Mann Ki Baat.

During the address, PM also lauded Kashmiri youth Dar's effort for cleaning up Wular lake in Bandipora district of north Kashmir.