The Rotaract club of S.P.I.T. being the lone social club of the college has always been organizing events for community service. One such event that concluded on the 2nd of October, that is on Gandhi Jayanti was ‘Cleanathon 2019’. It was aimed to support the ‘Swatchh Bharat Abhiyan’ launched on this very date in 2014.
The Rotaract club and the Maharashtra Summit collaborated again after the immense success of the ‘Model United Nations’ and organised ‘Cleanathon 2019’ stretching from Dadar-Prabhadevi to Parel. The event was in association with the Prakash Foundation and Kshitij classes.
More than 500 volunteers gathered around BDD chawl in Bhoiwada, Dadar. They enthusiastically took up brooms and garbage bags and cleaned the area around the chawl. Plastic bottles and wrappers formed a major part of the waste. The degradable waste was disposed of properly and the plastic waste was sent for recycling. The cleaning continued till early afternoon after which refreshments were given to the tired volunteers.
Later everyone rallied around the chawl with posters in hand preaching about cleanliness, sanitation and hygiene. One such poster read: ‘Mera sheher saaf ho, isme sab ka hath ho.’ In the evening, songs were sung and various dignitaries gave speeches on the importance of cleanliness and ‘clean India’.
“Today people came together in large numbers and a small step from each of them will result in a huge step towards cleaner India.”, says Shivangi Kochrekar, Rotaract S.P.I.T core member and participant.
This campaign thus tried to follow the footsteps of Mahatma Gandhiji, who was the torchbearer of cleanliness and sanitation in India. It also turned out to be inspirational for everyone who attended and volunteered for this noble cause.
Report by Aditi Bagwe
Pictures by Hrusheekesh Sawarkar and Arjun Pansare