Members of the LGBTQI community participated in a clean-up organised by Beach Please at Mahim creek
Shreegauri Sawant (third from left) during the clean-up
In a different kind of Pride March, members of the LGBTQI community participated in a Mithi river clean-up activity, on Sunday. It was organised by Beach Please, a youth initiative works to clean beaches in the city, and the Mithi river.
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Shreegauri Sawant, an eminent transgender activist, who is also a petitioner of transgender rights in the Supreme Court, participated in the activity. "As transgenders, we have always been considered as trash most of our lives, even by our families. We are thrown away. Society does not understand that we are equally part of it and throwing us away is only going to add to issues. When Beach Please approached me about participation, I could immediately connect with the idea," said Sawant.
The clean-up took place at Mahim creek with around 200 volunteers participating. NSS teams of VSIT, VIT and KPB Hinduja College which also participated, helped remove
around 3 tonnes of garbage. It was collected at one place from where it was to be picked up by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for disposal.
Volunteers used masks and hand gloves to clean the place, however, they encountered open defecation, medical waste, cloth and plastic strewn everywhere. The illegal dumping of debris adds to the waste in the river, choking it further everyday.
Malhar Kalambe, Founder of Beach Please, said, "Untreated waste and irresponsible dumping of waste is a major environmental hazard. We have been conducting weekly clean-up activities with several college students. But we want the movement to spread its reach because the work is vast and more support is required, irrespective of age, gender, class, caste or religion."
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