New Delhi , January 12th,2021 : On occasion of Swami Vivekananda Jayanti , National Youth Day PROJECT BLUE” was Launched today by Shri Nitin Gadkari Minister for Road Transport & Highways and the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the Government of India . Vivekananda Youth Connect Foundation’s Iniatiative to turn back black polluted Mumbai sea to clean Blue ” . His Holiness Acharya Dr. Lokesh Muni was Guest of Honour for this Launch . Dr Rajesh Sarwadnya Founder President Of Foundation , Sanjeev Sharma Foundation’s Delhi Convenor Were present .
Warm Greetings from Vivekananda Youth Connect Foundation (VYCF).
VYCF over the years, has been involved in several social and cultural activities all over India, especially in promoting the life and teachings of the Global Futurist Swami Vivekananda. Swami Vivekananda was a key figure for introducing the Indian Vendanta and philosophies of Yoga to the world which put India on the world’s spiritual map. It was his famous speech at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago, 1893 that forever changed the way the world looked at India.
“MUMBAI” the economic and cultural capital of the world’s largest democracy is a magnet that attracts a thousand dreams everyday…
If Delhi is the heart of the country, Mumbai is definitely its brain with the industrial, cultural and political elites living here. Mumbai definitely dictates the trends in the country.
Swami Vivekananda started his journey overseas from Mumbai and impressed and changed the world with his philosophies and values. Its temperate climate has been conducive to its growth as the industrial hub of the country. Mumbai, also attracts thousands of tourists every year due to its easy connectivity, marvelous Buddhist caves and remarkable forests around it.
This city and its suburbs that form the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, has a coastline of 167 kms out of which 87 km is accessible. This coastline in the past had enabled trades to flourish through the sea route. But today, the beaches and the coastline have become a dark reminder of insensitivity and carelessness of people living here. The sewage of the ever-increasing population has been dumped into the ocean for over last many decades. In spite of being the Economic Capital of the country, the beaches are still not defecation free. The industrial growth in the peripheral regions has prompted dumping of unprocessed chemical waste into the ocean through the rivers and its binaries. The coastline that once boasted of abundant and diverse marine life that is now lost in the dark and polluted waters.
Tourists from all over the country and all over the world visit the beaches of this city only to find piles of trash and garbage being dumped here which only prompts them to dump more. More importantly, most of the people who migrate into the city in the hope of making a better life for themselves, become a part of the ever growing slums in the city, which is the biggest contributor of human and chemical waste into the river binaries and creeks of the Mumbai Metropolitan region. These river binaries and creeks transport all the waste into the ocean, further degrading the quality of water around Mumbai.
In spite of the efforts by the Government to clean the beaches, the plastic from over several years is thrown back on the beaches during the monsoon making the legendary Juhu Beach and Queen’s Necklace, Marine Drive a dump house of trash. The quantity of this throwback is so enormous that it is nearly impossible to clean up everything. An estimated only 30% is cleaned up and the rest is drawn back into the ocean. We can confidently say that while the throwback is in several million metric tonnes, the administrative machinery is able and equipped to pick up only a few thousand metric tonnes of the throwback garbage.
The non stop pollution created by the people only adds to the problem. The deluge during monsoons have become a frequent occurrence due to the clogging of all the rivers and sewage system that pass through Mumbai because of the garbage. This is only a small example, but the impact of marine pollution has been enormous. The increasing pollution due to receding mangroves is also an important issue that needs to be addressed. Mumbai Metropolitan region consists of 9 local bodies, who are responsible for cleaning up of coastline, river binaries and creeks. Other than them, it is important that the State Government and the Central Government also take up the cleaning of the ocean on priority.
Thus, Project Blue has been initiated by Vivekananda Youth Connect Foundation. The Project Blue believes that the cleaning of the ocean is a two way process. One, is to entirely stop and control any kind of waste from entering not only the ocean, but also the rivers, their binaries and creeks which flow into the ocean. And Two is to clean up all the waste that the ocean throws out. This is an enormous task and will require political and social strong will. Thus we propose, that an Autonomous Government body be formed, which will oversee the entire process of cleaning of the ocean and then maintaining the cleanliness.
This body should have representation of all the local bodies under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, State Government, Central Government, Environmentalists, Representatives of citizens and also a few celebrities living in Mumbai who are public influencers. Getting people involved is a very important
way to achieve this and to present a recent case study. During the Corona Pandemic, when the country was under a complete lockdown, just 21 days of complete restraint from the people side, revived the natural balance to some extent, birds returned to trees and fish returned to the ocean. If people are made responsible and involved in the process of reviving of nature, we are confident that we can boast of a blue coastline very soon.
Today we have the privilege of Launching an awareness Short Film “ PROJECT BLUE” on this great environmental cause which affects lives of 25 million People residing in Mumbai Metropolitan area
For any queries you can contact us on email to: – [email protected] and you may also call any time on + 91 9820649046 for any help or support required. We would be delighted to have you as an integral part of this initiative and together we can work to build a better world for the future generations.
Dr Rajesh Sarwadnya
Founder
VYCF
www.vivekanandayouthconnect.com