Patricia Mukhim
Thursday Aug 8, will be etched in the memory of many a young person from the schools, colleges and universities of Shillong and from environmental groups like MakeSomeoneSmile and Pla-Iew and the City Hut Dhaba volunteers who teamed up with The Shillong Times to clean up the Umkaliar River at its dirtiest point. The idea for this clean-up drive was inspired by Afroz Shah the man who engaged in the biggest marine cleaning drive and was honoured with the United Nations, ‘Champion of the Earth’ Award. The Shillong Times enters its 75th year on August 10, 2019. An Organising Committee with people from different walks of life was formed to brainstorm on how best the newspaper could observe its year- long celebration and what should be the enduring theme for the whole year. We zeroed in on the theme of cleaning up Shillong, with special focus on its two rivers – namely the Wah Umkhrah and Umshyrpi that have now virtually morphed into drains.
We contacted Afroz Shah and imagine our delight when he said he would agree to “come and be part of a sustainable clean-up project in Meghalaya, a state in North East India.” That day dawned when Afroz Shah and his volunteer Gaurav Bhanushali landed in Shillong at 2.10 pm, August 8. Hopefully, Afroz’s tryst with Shillong will become a lasting one as we plan a schedule for regular clean-ups coupled with visits to schools and addressing young change makers.
The clean-up date had been set for 3 pm on August 8 at Umkaliar. The duo barely had time to grab a light lunch and rush to the rendezvous where nearly two hundred young people and adults had gathered to wade into the river and clean it up. We were assisted by an excavator and garbage trucks from the Shillong Municipal Board. The theme for this restorative action is, “The Environment and I: We Co-exist.” The idea for cleaning up the Umkaliar River is because it is located upstream of the Umkhrah and if garbage should stop flowing to the Umkhrah on to the Umiam then the garbage should be stopped upstream. The Umkaliar is suffering under the weight of tonnes of plastic garbage, clothes, and all kinds of household items that were emptied into it as if it was a piece of dead wood that had neither feeling not life. If the Umkaliar could speak she would say, “How dare you heartless humans desecrate me like this? Don’t you know that at one time my waters were sparkling clean and fit for drinking? Look at what you humans have done to me!”
The bank of the Umkaliar is alas a tipplers’ paradise where people consume locally brewed liquor sold in small plastic bags. Hence the place looks like a plastic whirlwind just blew across. The ground is a white mass of plastics. In fact while the cleaning drive was going on, the regular dipsomaniacs were just waiting for our mission to be over so they can water their parched throats. That liquor is bad for health is a no brainer; but to have liquor out of the worst quality plastics must be toxic. But perhaps we need to enlist these young and old men in our next clean-up mission next week. For that is what we will be doing in this fight against plastics – enlist everyone and help them make a difference so that they too can see hope where none seemingly exists.
It is said that starting something is easy; sustaining it is difficult. Many have in the past waded into the Wah Umkhrah to clean it but the effort has not sustained. We are aware of these pitfalls and symbolic efforts hence our endeavour to team up with Afroz Shah who has done what many tried but failed. Now he travels to Gujarat and Goa also to start clean-up campaigns but with a clear message that he would not be part of any function where one-time use plastics are used. If only Government had started banning plastics, (at least the thin ones used by vegetable vendors and grocers and butchers), years ago without allowing the manufacturers to dictate to us that a certain micron thickness is not bad, we would not have to witness that plastic tsunami at the Wah Umiam recently. Our rivers are hurting and at times I wish they could speak. For the Khasis, all the rivers are female, (“Ka wah)” symbolising the maternal principles of loving, nurturing and caring. And that’s what rivers do. They provide water and marine life. When we were young we would wash clothes at the Umkaliar, dry them and while waiting for the clothes to dry we would net the little fish there, roast them and have our lunch. My heart pained to see what we have inflicted on this poor river.
And now back to Afroz. Here is an amiable man with a mission who has revolutionised the idea of cleaning our backyards. He started the cleaning drive of the Mumbai beaches four years ago. I asked him how he started. He said he had shifted to an apartment overlooking the Versova Beach. When he looked out the window what he saw shocked him out of his wits. The beach was littered with garbage that had stock-piled up to several feet high. That was when he decided that he was going to start cleaning up the Versova Beach. The clean-up news spread like wildfire. Several volunteers, mainly young people, joined him and soon he had thousands of volunteers making a commitment to clean up different parts of Mumbai. While addressing the young volunteers today, Afroz said, “You are so lucky to be living in these mountains so close to nature. In Mumbai we only have the sea and the coastlines. You have lovely flowing rivers and such beautiful surroundings. Don’t you think you should keep them clean?” He got a resounding “Yes” in response. Like Afroz we should all try and stop using single-use plastics, carry our own shopping bags and our own glasses everywhere; stop having water from disposable water bottles and also stop using thermocol cups. If we as citizens don’t look for the easiest way out we can bring the change.
Afroz also does not buy the NGO concept. He believes in working with volunteers who give freely of their time and resources. Someone or the other offers food after every cleaning drive and that is good enough. When the clean-up of Umkaliar had to be halted on Thursday as it had started getting dark, Afroz asked the volunteers what their feelings were when they waded into the river to retrieve the garbage. Each one of them said they were touched and that they would change their attitudes towards plastics and their lifestyles too. All of them made a solemn commitment to join hands in the year-long cleaning campaign started by The Shillong Times. This indeed was very heartening because if at all change has to come it must be the present generation that will bring the change.
In fact, “Catch them young,” should be the watchword because today it is kids who keep a check on their parent’s lifestyles.
We hope that Government with all its resources will be sincere in its River Rejuvenation Programme and that they will involve the key stakeholders, namely the schools, colleges and universities and all other institutions and business establishments that must use their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds not to bribe pressure groups but to add value to this city which is home to all of us.
To Afroz we say a huge ‘Thank You’ for being the messiah for cleanliness in a world polluted and overwhelmed by plastics. We look forward to a long-lasting friendship that is bound by a solemn pledge to reduce the use of plastics in this country.