Clean the city, use the garbage

Clean the city, use the garbage

I am very grateful to Ms Kamla Ravikumar, dedicated environmental activist and educator in Chennai, India, for sending me this link. I have a connection to Rajkot - my ancestors, especially on my paternal grandmother's side, hailed from there and they moved to the South Indian city of Madras in the 1920s (with occasional short periods back in Gujarat) through the 1940s before they finally decided that Madras (which was later renamed Chennai) was where their hearts were. As someone who has visited Gujarat (and Rajkot) only twice - once in the mid 1970s and then in the early 80s, I could understand why. My impressions of the state and of Rajkot as a city were of dusty and dirty places where public hygiene was considerably worse than what I was accustomed to in the South. My paternal grandmother always maintained that she stayed back in Madras because she wanted all four of her sons to get what she would refer to as "double degrees" from Madras colleges. And that was what brought my maternal grandparents to Madras as well - Karachi was not quite a place for girls to get an education in the 1950s, and not for a member of the minority in particular. My maternal grandmother's family had lived in Mambalam since the 1890s and it probably took her and my grandfather the better part of fifteen minutes to decide where they were going to send their daughters to study - that was Madras's reputation as a center of culture, learning and advancement back in the day.

The public squalor and unhygienic conditions in Gujarat did blow up with the Surat plague of 1994. Thousands of people died from pneumonic plague in the rat infested town with badly overflowing sewers. As the world watched sick in the stomach, it does appear as if the people of Gujarat found the reason that they needed to clean their city up - in 2004, a prestigious magazine (I am not sure whether it was India Today or Outlook) did a story on how, in 10 years' time, Surat had become one of the cleanest cities in India because of a concerted effort by the city administration. Now, another city in the same state - Gujarat - has gone a step further. I am not sure if the recognition of garbage as a resource that the Indian express article talks about in Rajkot is a first for India, but, even if it isn't the very first, it is certainly among the first. And there is a lot to be hoped for in this demonstration of an idea that has made entrepreneurs wealthy the world over - hopefully, other cities across India will compete and try to best Rajkot in using their garbage as a resource. The pluses in doing this are simply too many, but the most significant ones would be:

1. Whole cities get cleaned up, and, instead of spending money on cleaning, they realize a profit from doing this. This is especially important in a desperately poor country like India

2. A large scale operation like this provides employment to some of the most marginalized communities in the country - rural migrants to the cities who, usually, have little education and no money

3. A cleaner living environment means healthier lives for city residents. The Surat plague showed the deficiencies of the Indian public health system. Cities that work hard to keep themselves clean and also make money out of this, end up reducing the strain on already beleaguered hospital systems

I hope that this example would be competitively emulated by other cities across India as they try to make even more money out of their garbage. There is a lot more that can be done - I have been beating the drum about garbage mining as is done here in the USA and in several European countries. That would make even more money for cities and entrepreneurs who get into this business in India. And when there is any further development, this blog will cover it - watch this space!

Coastal Cleanup Day - Sep 19th

I have a concept paper from Ms Kamla Ravikumar, a good friend of this blog and a dedicated activist, about the Chennai response to "Coastal Cleanup Day" which is celebrated worldwide on Sep 19th. It is always gratifying to see this kind of grassroots activity take place and while some criticize it for the fact that it takes place just once a year, I personally think that this is still immensely important as more and more people are exposed to the dirt that we sometimes unknowingly send into our beautiful seas. Celebrating one day a year to voluntarily clean up even a small portion of our coast is very positive in that it shows many of us what we could do to reduce activity that causes pollution from our side. This can have a snowballing effect and lead to greater advantages year after year as the momentum from celebrating a "clean festival" is kept up.

Please check out Kamla's paper and try and volunteer to help. I really miss my beautiful city of birth in times like this and wish I were back in Madras Nalla Madras again! Thank you very much, Kamla.

CONCEPT PAPER WORLDWIDE “COASTAL CLEANUP DAY”(CCD) ON 19TH SEP 2009 ALONG TN COAST



INTRODUCTION: The Coastal Clean up Day( CCD) is an Annual Volunteer Event Worldwide to cleanup the Coastal Areas, especially the Beaches and educate the children and the coastal population and thus Protect the Fragile Environment along the Coast and show Community Support for Shared Natural Resource of Coastal Habitat
AIM: to participate in CCD and Cleanup the stretch of coast between Ennore Port and Mahabalipuram along the Tamil Nadu Coast (a length of 64 KM ) upto the nearest coastal belt road with Diverse Environmental Issues and Coastal Activities and with a view to ensure Local Participation and educate them , under the overall aegis of the Ocean Conservancy, USA(www.oceanconservancy.org) Indian Maritime Foundation (IMF) at Pune. (www.indianmaritimefoundation.com )

PLAN: The proposal is to Cleanup the above Coastal Stretch and Educate Local Population and School Children from 0630 hours to approx 1000 hrs on the World CCD on Saturday the 19th Sep 2009 in Eight Blocks as follows:

Sl Block From To KMs
(a) 1 Ennore Sattangadu 9


(b) 2 Sattangadu CPT/Cooum N 8



© 3 Cooum S Adyar R N 6


(d) 4 Adyar R S Valmiki Ngr 8


(e) 5 Valmiki Ngr Cho Art Vill 8


(f) 6 Cho Art Vill Muthukadu N 8


(g) 7 Muthukadu S Kovalam 8



(h) 8 Kovalam MB Puram 9


An estimated 1000 volunteers(apart from local public) will be mobilized by the Nodal Agencies for the CCD under the aegis of the IMF, both from within and outside their organizations.


EXECUTION: The Detailed Planning and Methodology will be given to the Nodal Agencies by the IMF atleast a week before the event , based on the Ocean Conservancy, USA Model WorldWide, so as to Collect Garbage, etc from the Sea Coast in Bags and their Proper Disposal through the Local Corporation/ Town Panchayat/ Civic Authorities. The IMF will supply the Kits for Collection as well as the Appreciation Certificates to Team Leaders and Participants, to be funded by the Sponsors, who will get due Publicity. A Pre Event Press Conference will be held at Chennai by the IMF around 12th Sep 2009 with all Concerned Nodal Agencies and Civic Authorities to Highlight the Movement’s aim of keeping our Coastal Belt Clean and Preserve our Coastal Heritage. Nodal Agencies will Disseminate the details of the achievements to the IMF by AM 19 Sep 2009 for Post Event Coverage by the Press/ Media(both Print and Electronic). The Vice President IMF will debrief and Chief Guest will present Certificates to the Team Leaders at a Function on the Evening of 19th Sep 2009. IMF/Nodal Agencies will involve the Locals as well as the School Children in their Areas for Effective CCD

SPONSORS: The IMF will invite Sponsorships with due publicity) for the CCD Movement from Renowned ‘Green’ Corporates to cover the Costs of the Event. The Estimated Cost of Conducting the CCD for the stated Coastal Stretch(64 SKM) is Rs 5,00,000.


6. CONCLUSION: The CCD will not only help to clean the coastal belt, but will create awareness and educate the public and the school children to value our coastal heritage. The event will be covered by the Media and the next issue of the IMF magazine “Seagull” will carry writeup on the subject. Depending upon the experience and success, the movement under the IMF will be enlarged to longer coastal areas in future in different parts of the coastal states.




(Prepared by Rear Admiral K.R.Srinivasan, AVSM,IN(Retd) Former Chief Hydrographer to the Govt of India and Vice President, IMF, Chennai Branch)