They work silently to preserve and protect the city's shores, flora and fauna. And in the process, inspire others to do the same. Ahead of Earth Day, know why we could take a leaf out of their book
Jay Shringarpure: Making the coast clear
Thirty-five-year-old Jay Shringarpure has lived in Dadar all his life. As a child, he would play cricket, football and have a great time at Dadar Chowpatty. However, last year, when he dropped by the same stretch with his daughter, they were greeted by a bed of plastic; there was no shore.
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"I spent my childhood playing on this beach. My daughter should be able to do that too. Inspired by Afroz Shah of Versova beach clean-up, I felt I should do the same at Dadar," says the ad filmmaker. For the first three months, Shringarpure worked alone. But after his social media posts were shared, people from the vicinity, NGOs and institutions started joining in.
Today, between 30 and 70 Mumbaikars join him every Sunday; there are new faces every week as well. Shringarpure recently had an 84-year-old Indian from London join him. He spends '8,000 every month to provide water, gloves and snacks to the participants.
"They are all there to give something back to nature. We have collected more than 500 tonnes of plastic. The problem is we can't recycle it, as the process is lengthy and expensive because of the sand. If everyone segregates, 80 per cent of the problem can be solved. If the recent plastic ban is executed properly, it will be great for Maharashtra," Shringarpure signs off.
Log on to: facebook.com/JayFoundation1
- Dhara Vora Sabhnani
Mayur Kamath: Ping for a nest
For Mayur Kamath, it all began when a pair of sparrows that frequented the balcony of his in-laws disappeared. A naturalist and engineer-turned-wildlife photographer, Kamath started Sparrowfella - an initiative dedicated to increasing Mumbai's sparrow population - when his search for a cheap nest online for the sparrows who visited his Vasai home came to nought. "Nothing that I found was below '500.
Also, most of the nests or houses were colourful, but you can't have a vibrant nest for sparrows because they need something that merges with the surroundings. So, I got a mud nest made, which the sparrows readily accepted," says the 39-year-old. It was then that he decided to take things forward and distributed the first 100 nests for free. This was 2017, and what began with a WhatsApp forward and a cooperative effort between friends and acquaintances has today become a network of 1,300 registered sparrow keepers and volunteers spread across Mumbai, who help Kamath distribute the nests.
"The best part about it is because it happens through WhatsApp, people reach out to me from Bengaluru and Delhi too. A person from Hyderabad is now looking at starting a similar initiative there," he says.
Call: 9702041503
- Suman Quazi
Nikita Pimple: Green lessons for GenNext
In 2010, when educationist Nikita Pimple started Rishi Valmiki Eco School in Goregaon with her parents, she was clear about one thing - nature was not going to remain confined to the subject of environment studies. Though the school, meant for underprivileged children, follows the state board syllabus, she found a way of keeping nature at the core of what children learn in school.
(From left)âu00c2u0080u00c2u0088RVES teacher Priti Gupta, principal Nikita Pimple, students Kasim Ansari, Smitesh Jadhav and Pralhad Pawar. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
"When you take kids out on trails and help them befriend the flora and fauna around them, there's no need to teach them separately about avoiding plastic or wasting water," she says. The school's first batch is now in the ninth standard, and boasts of budding naturalists. Apart from relaying the information learnt from experts to their juniors and taking them out in the nature, they also conduct trails at Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
"We wish to see our students appear for the Indian Forest Service exams," says Pimple. She adds, "Many of these kids hail from families of daily wagers, where meeting ends is the primary concern. If such enthusiastic naturalists can emerge from there, we don't need to look elsewhere for inspiration."
Log on to: rveschool.com
- Snigdha Hasan
Jayesh Vishwakarma: Marine turnaround
Mumbai's beaches are not homogenous in terms of bio-diversity. The marine life off, say, Juhu Beach is vastly different from what you get in Madh Island, though it's not too far down the coastline. Jayesh Vishwakarma's research for his course in college involves documenting this difference.
And it also involves raising awareness. For instance, the 23-year-old actively encourages fishermen who have hauled their catch in to throw sea snakes and jellyfish back into the water, considering these species are of no use to them. "I also conduct beach walks, where I tell people about what marine bio-diversity in Mumbai is like, and what they can do to play their part in protecting it," he tells us, adding that his biggest grouse is plastic. "You won't believe the number of milk packets that we find trashed on the beach or floating in the sea," he says.
The team he works with, called Sprouts, tries to raise awareness about these concerns among the city's populace. And the research that they do helps keep a check on the ecological health of the different beaches. "You can gauge whether a certain place is in good shape or not from the marine life present. For example, you have something called decorator worms. It's a marine species that you find on beaches with plastic, which the worms arrange in a line. So, their presence indicates that a place has a lot of waste. And that helps us identify particular spots that need attention," he summarises.
Call: 9930578959
- Shunashir Sen
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