Last Sunday, a group of individuals sent a
strong message by leading with example. Armed with gloves, brooms, and bins,
these cleanliness crusaders launched an initiative by the name of ‘Goa loves
100% clean’ and cleaned up the place near the Aguada Fort. Spearheaded by
Rajesh Khanna, who used to run ‘Food Court’ in Calangute few years ago, and
equally supported by like-minded individuals from different walks of life, the
group’s objective is to raise awareness about every individual’s responsibility
in keeping Goa clean.
The idea was triggered in Khanna’s mind
when he was accompanying his foreigner friend to show him the Aguada Fort few
weeks ago. Khanna noticed that instead of looking at the fort, his friend was
looking at the garbage spread across the area – an observation that struck
Khanna’s conscience. Around the same time, Khanna was also in touch with
Avaaz.org – an internet based NGO that gave a clarion call to people worldwide
to get together for the ‘People’s Climate March’ on September 21, as world
leaders assembled in New York for the climate change summit. Khanna says, “The
website inspired me to start the initiative from an area that I function from –
Aguada. This is also one of the few places in Goa that is untouched. Apart from
the natural flora and fauna, the place also has tremendous heritage value. We
want to start the initiative from here; I hope this spreads in other parts of
the state as well.
Ricardo Rebelo, a local from the area who
was a part of the initiative and the cleanliness drive last Sunday, says, “The
basic objective of this initiative is to keep Goa 100% clean. But the question
is, who should do it? The easy way out is to say that it is the government’s
responsibility, whereas the truth is that even if the government puts all its
resources, Goa is not going to be 100% clean, that is, unless every person
takes responsibility and does his bit, we won’t have results.”
According to Rebelo, in India, if we give
total freedom to people, no one will follow the law. He feels that awareness
has to be created about the incentives available through the local panchayat
sanctioned by the Urban Development Ministry for garbage management. He says,
“We have to use the ‘Carrot and Stick’ approach to make this initiative
successful. We want to replicate the Sunday drive in other parts of Goa till it
goes viral all over.”
Saurish Naique, a young guy from Panjim who
is a part of the initiative, mentions an interesting incident that happened
last Sunday. Saurish says, “When we were cleaning up the area, few tourists,
maybe from Maharashtra, were sitting there drinking. One of them threw the
bottle outside. To our surprise, one of the guys from their group picked it up
and dropped it in our bin and advised his friend not to litter around. So it’d
be safe to say that there has been a positive impact.”
The
next cleanliness drive is on October 2 and those who wish to get involved in
the initiative can assemble at the Aguada Fort at around 11.30 am.
