Juhu goes green, decides to dump plastic bags…….Linah Baliga
The residents of Juhu have decided to substitute plastic bags with cloth bags for their grocery shopping. On Monday, the ?Go Green Juhu? campaign was launched by actress Shabana Azmi, member of the Juhu Citizen?s Welfare Group (JCWG), to say no to plastic bags that dirties the vast stretch of Juhu?s coastline.
“After the Chitale Committee report there was a lot of confusion on the use of plastic bags. But this campaign should be called Juhugiri on the lines of Gandhigiri,? said Azmi. Last year, 1,020 truckloads of plastic bags were removed from Juhu beach. This year around 500 students participating in Malhar, the festival of St Xavier?s college, removed 672.5 kg of garbage from the same place.
JCWG hopes to sell the cloth bags at a discounted price for Rs10 each to all the households through school and college students.
“This year, we hope the number of plastic bags have gone down as most of them had gone with the widening and dredging of Mithi river,? said Hansel D?souza, president, JCWG.
According to D?souza, when the tide is high the nullahs get flooded, and the plastic bags dumped in them float onto the city?s beaches. Marine life along with the mangroves get destroyed.
According to D?souza, when the tide is high the nullahs get flooded, and the plastic bags dumped in them float onto the city?s beaches. Marine life along with the mangroves get destroyed.
Vakola height to be raised: In order to arrest the problem of flooding in Vakola, the civic body has decided to increase the height of the Vakola nullah bridge by 1m. The increase in the height of the bridge will benefit 1 lakh residents who have to deal with sewage water entering their homes.
“Last week, with light showers water was touching the bottom of the bridge. The bridge may obstruct the flow of water during heavy showers. So, I have recommended to the planning cell to raise its height by 1m,? said Nand Indrani, executive engineer, storm water drains.
According to Bhupendra Singh, president, Vakola Residents? Association, every year crores of rupees get wasted for people staying in low-lying areas due to flooding. ?This bridge is an alternate access route for Ward 82. The Vakola nullah joins the Mithi river and water flows into it from Vile Parle, Andheri, Sahar airport area and parts of Kurla,? he said.
Singh said that the increase in the height of the bridge will check the issue of flooding in their area.