For a good and responsible cause, you need not wait for others to join you. Anyone can do their bit all by themselves for every drop adds up to make the ocean. This has been exemplified by a 22-year-old man from Odisha who is on a mission to clean Puri Beach.
One Rahul Maharana from Khurda reaches Devi estuary near Astaranga in Puri district every Sunday morning with a gunny bag on his back and collects every piece of garbage, litter, or waste on the beach and the mangrove cover. He has been doing so for the past three months all on his own in turn collecting over 1170 Kg from several parts of the state which includes Puri and a similar drive at Pir Jahania beach, Rushikulya mass nesting site, and other places. Above all, he has been doing it at his own expense.
Though he has been acting like a one-man-army, Rahul’s work was noticed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who called him a “Swachhagrahi” and recognized and praised his work in Mann Ki Baat.
“I’m trying to protect our Odisha’s mangroves and its habitat from pollution. Mangroves are important players in the greatest challenges facing the world today. They provide a defense between land and sea, absorb carbon, and are home to many wild creatures. Trying my best at the mangrove restoration sites. Let us unite to make hands dirty & protect our mangroves!” called out Rahul.
What inspired Rahul to clean Odisha beach?
A security guard by profession who works in Bhubaneswar, Rahul was concerned about the mangrove on the seashore. Hence he launched a clean-up drive to protect the estuary from waste, polluting materials and revive mangrove forests in the wetland.
A few days before January 8, when he started his drive, Rahul visited Astaranga along with his friends and saw the spread of waste, some stuck between the mangroves. That is when he decided to come here at least once every week and clean the place and do his part. As he is a working professional, he chose Sunday, his week off as the day of his cleaning up.
Having collected about 1 tonne of waste, Rahul will send it away to Konark where it will be safely disposed of.
The waste thrown into the river by the people residing on the banks is getting deposited in the estuary which is causing serious problems to the mangrove ecosystem in the area. There is little awareness of the protection of mangroves irrespective of the fact that they play a significant role in protecting the land from cyclones and sea ingress during a tidal surge.
As per the Forest Survey of India, mangrove cover has been denuded in Puri in the last two years owing to various reasons. The coastal vegetation is spread over five districts – Kendrapara, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, and Puri – stands at around 259 square km, around 8 square km more than the previous assessment carried out in 2019.
Rahul strives to continue the drive as long as he can. Besides this, he also has plans to launch awareness camps in villages to sensitize people on the hazards of pollution and the importance of protecting mangroves.