Journalism of Courage
On Sunday morning,an army in white T-shirts and yellow gloves assembled at the Mutha river to carry out the 2012 Clean World Movement. From the Kalyani Nagar bridge,one could see the group hard at work.
Organised by the Korea-based WeLoveU Foundation,river cleaning activity was carried out simultaneously across the world. Right from Mutha in Pune to El Paso in USA,Bellecour Square in Lyon,France,Magat Salamat in Phillippines and Hara River in Darkhan the initiative was a synchronous step towards a cleaner environment.
In Pune,400 people from all walks of life went about town collecting garbage. Colin Fernandes,a 21-year-old student who has been volunteering with the organisation for a year now,felt this was a great way to create awareness. Its like a world movement. WeLoveU Foundation expands worldwide starting from the Representative of Korea. The clean up activities will be organised concurrently to send a stronger message.
From 10 am to noon,spreading in various time zones,garbage was collected and the issue discussed. Several black dustbin bags stuffed with cigarette butts,plastic bottles and paper waste sat around.
On the side,volunteers emptied the bags to form a big mass of garbage that Pune had effortlessly discarded into Mutha.
Raghav Shelke,a volunteer said,One is surprised by the kind of garbage dumped here. There are toothpaste caps,pen refills,used cans,a pair of jeans,a torn leather shoe and several other things here.
The black bin bags stuffed with non-degradable waste signified how much the citizens take the river for granted.
