As individuals, they work as tourism entrepreneur, schoolteacher, yoga trainer, college clerk, and restaurateur, but three times a week the quintet join hands to do ‘dirty work’ to keep beaches and backwaters waste-free.
Edison Antony, Nebin Cheriyan, Maiju Felix, Thomas Antony, and Nithin Joseph from Mararikulam in Alappuzha have not taken a weekend off for quite a while as they dedicate themselves to picking up trash from beaches in the region. Besides Saturday and Sunday, the group dubbed ‘Opulence in Action’ collects garbage every Tuesday.
Mr. Edison who is in the tourism business started devoting time to waste collection in 2019. At first, it was just him and a friend. “The issue of floating garbage such as bottles, broken plastic and other items on Alappuzha backwaters was brought to my attention by foreign tourists. Some of these visitors, after a canoe or kayak trip to Kuttanad , expressed annoyance at seeing a huge amount of trash floating on the water. After a few individual efforts, occasional cleaning of places frequented by paddlers was carried out with the help of the local workforce. Sometimes tourists also joined us,” says Mr. Edison.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic put a break on the drives. After a gap, Edison was joined by four of his friends to expand the clean-up mission onto beaches in 2022. Following a few cleaning drives, the group began removing waste on a regular basis from Marari, Kattoor, Thayyil and nearby beaches in Alappuzha earlier this year. They collected over 150 sacks of plastic waste from the beaches in the last five months.
While plastic is handed over to the Haritha Karma Sena, biodegradable waste is managed by burying it in compost pits. “We are happy that our efforts, albeit small in nature, are contributing to saving oceans and countless species. Ours is not a one-time clean-up programme. We collect litter from beaches at regular intervals,” says Mr. Maiju.
They have installed dustbins on some of the beaches they cleaned. Inspired by the group’s efforts, others, including women, are now joining them on clean-up missions. As part of expanding their work to other districts, the group will conduct a waste collection drive on the Varkala beach soon.
Recently, the Alappuzha district panchayat led by president K.G. Rajeshwari praised the group’s work. R. Riyas, member, Alappuzha district panchayat, says the group would be provided with all support including cleaning equipment.
