Mumbai: Coinciding with International Coastal Cleanup Day, Union Minister for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav today released new guidelines for providing support to youth-led startups engaged in waste recycling. The programme under which one-time financial support has been provided towards the setting up of a recycling plant was announced by him while taking part in a beach clean-up drive on Juhu Beach in Mumbai on September 21, 2024.
It sought a larger battle against marine pollution in India and the coastal environment. The cleaning is organized by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and undertaken in collaboration with the Ministry of Earth Sciences and the Government of Maharashtra. This is in line with the entire commitment of India towards environmental protection and sustainable development.
Grants for Recycling Start-Ups
The moment when Minister Bhupender Yadav made the new guidelines for financially benefiting youth-led startups focused on waste recycling opened its way to adapting and helping the environmental impact of waste in this country as part of the effort by the government to promote green technologies. This initiative toward innovative waste management solutions is expected to help India rise toward a greener future and help in reducing landfill usage and promoting recycling industries.
Juhu Beach Cleanup Campaign
The declaration was given amid a mass beach cleaning program at Juhu Beach, involving hundreds of participants, including local citizens, activists of various environment groups, and government officials. Cleanups were mobilized throughout India’s coastal states and union territories to mark International Coastal Cleanup Day. This year, the focus has been on natural cleanliness as well as cultural responsibility toward maintaining beaches and marine ecosystems clean under the theme “Swabhav Swachhata – Sanskaar Swachhata”.
GOVERNMENT’S COMMITMENT TOWARDS CLEANLINESS
During the event, the union minister Bhupender Yadav has stated that despite being solely dependent on natural resources, society never focused on sending back these resources in clean form back to the environment. He has elaborated a few notable issues on which the government has taken action like water conservation, encouraging technologies which reduce solid waste, prohibition of single usage plastics, and taking up innovative methods of waste disposal.
In addition, it will try to advocate healthy lifestyles and waste less food besides these ongoing measures of environmental conservation.
Support for “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” Initiative
Additionally, he appealed to citizens to participate in the “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” campaign- inspiration from none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This campaign asks people to leave their footprints on earth by planting trees. Within a couple of months, under this initiative, millions of trees are planted, which are designed to increase greenery and improve environmental stewardship.
Role of Maharashtra in Coastal Cleanup
Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also participated in the initiative. The Governor emphasized the need for regular cleaning operations, noting that one day’s work alone would not be enough to combat the culprit pollutant. He asserted continuity of efforts such as this to seek, finally, “Clean Mumbai, Green Mumbai” and then “Clean Bharat, Green Bharat.”
Chief Minister Shinde said that cleanliness is a public service, while holding out an example of the state’s 720-km-long coast line that will be noteworthy in its tourism field. He saluted citizens for their participation in the cleanliness campaign which took a launch date on September 17 from Girgaum Chowpatty and will be followed up until October 2, 2024.
Coastal Cleanup Campaign Pan India
The Juhu Beach cleanup is an event that is a part of a much larger initiative across over 100 beaches in India’s states and union territories. The event, commemorated internationally on International Coastal Cleanup Day every year, aims at creating awareness of marine litter and the protection of oceans.
The slogan “I Am Saving My Beach” was used for a pledge towards environment protection, after which participants created human chains that pledged their commitment to the preservation of the coastline of Mumbai. This community effort is in line with the overall campaign at a national level initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where the emphasis is on making cleanliness a national priority.
Long-standing Campaigns for Marine Protection
The coastal cleanup campaign has grown multifold since its initiation in 2018, when the #IAM SAVING MY BEACH initiative by MoEFCC on World Environment Day saw that a nationwide movement engage thousands of volunteers every year. During the “Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar” campaign conducted in 2022, more than 15,000 volunteers accumulated over 1,500 tons of waste collected from 75 beaches.
Last year, under its Janbhagidari (people’s participation) movement, while India was presiding over G20, the nation involved communities in 14 G20 countries and other invitee nations through beach clean-up events across over 55 beaches worldwide. That says a lot about the strength of worldwide cooperation over environmental issues.
Greater Awareness and Contribution towards Sustainable Lifestyle
The International Coastal Cleanup Day is a type of cleanup drive combined with a learning platform. Fundamentally, it is meant to build more awareness concerning the enormous destructive influence of marine litter and issues surrounding the preservation of oceans and coastal ecosystems. This year’s campaign involves tree planting, signature campaigns, and educative displays as part of efforts to encourage citizens to curb plastic use and more sustainable practices.
A central database would track clean-up efforts everywhere in the country, which means that it would be useful for transparency, and it would encourage continuing community participation in environmental undertakings.
Conclusion
The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change’s new guidelines for enabling waste recycling startups form an important step toward fueling innovation in waste management across the country and reducing pollution. Combined with significantly extensive efforts in the coastal cleanups, this initiative is perhaps most emblematic of the commitment that India is making toward sustainability and environment protection.
Citizen engagement, startups, and international cooperation will be the keys to these programmes that the Government of India will adopt towards pollution-reduction pursuits as it strives for a cleaner, greener India.
Source:
Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav announcement on 21st September, 2024.