Dia Mirza and Pragya Kapoor inaugurate the benches on Carter Road promenade!

This noteworthy initiative marks a new milestone by Citizen movement “Carter Clean Up” which has been diligently and passionately cleaning Carter Road beach and mangroves for the past 75 weeks. They have actively been supported by ek saath – the earth foundation, their official NGO partner, from the beginning.

Led by a group of conscious citizens Harold Fernandes, Freishia Bomanbehram, Maansi Desai, Nupur Agarwal, and Ashwin Malvade, this beach cleanup movement undertook the responsibility of a week-long operation where more than 36000 kgs of construction debris were cleared from Carter Road beach. This debris was illegally and thoughtlessly dumped during the lockdown and a hazard to our environment.

The generous support of Pragya Kapoor, Founder Eksaath – The Earth foundation & Refillable India helped make this a reality.

Pragya Kapoor, who has been central to this ever-growing green movement, believes the whole community has helped push the limits of waste recycling. She adds, “Mother Nature is great, but it needs a little hand to survive and thrive. Previously, the beach was covered with debris and filth, but I am positive our collaboration would allow the visitors to admire the beauty of the place for the benches carry our message, and hopefully, it will inspire more people to join the movement. We are glad to have found dedicated individuals who worked together for over 75 weeks to give our vision a tangible form. Our effort demonstrates how waste can be a part of the circular economy, and it feels great to make an impact not just on natural spaces but also on people’s individual lives.”

Environment changemaker Dia Mirza who has always lent her time and energy to back worthwhile initiatives like this says, “Change does not just come from massive global movements but also from micro shifts in our perspective. These benches are a result of a fantastic hyperlocal insight into what Carter Road needed and have also expanded the mantra of ‘Reuse, Reduce & Recycle’, to include the idea of ‘Repair’. I have always believed that when a group of mindful citizens align their thoughts and energy, they can create something hugely inspiring and these benches exemplify just that. They also embody the philosophy of “Best out of waste” that we were all taught in school but somehow forgot along the way. What a joy to see debris that would have ended in a landfill transformed into something so useful and beautiful.”

Post collection the construction debris was then sent to Metro Waste Handling Pvt Ltd, Thane which converted the into benches to put the waste to better use.

The benches were installed on Carter Road Promenade on 22nd December, at 11 am in the presence of Dia Mirza (Actor-Producer, Eco-Investor, and UN Secretary-General’s Advocate for SDGs), Ms Pragya Kapoor, producer & founder Ek saath- The Earth Foundation & The team of Carter cleanup.

Keerti Kadam.