Hindu festivities have been going on with gaiety and fervor, despite the gloom that pandemic has brought upon us. The Navratri were celebrated as usual and so was Dussehra, all the while praying for the elimination of the disease as soon as possible.
As part of religious celebrations, tonnes of flowers and other holy wastes are thrown into the rivers, consequently polluting the water bodies to a disturbing level. And this year’s festivities were no exception. India celebrated Dussehra, a celebration of good over evil, just a few days ago and it was time to dispose of all the holy waste – when a man stops people from dumping garbage into Godavari River in Maharashtra. Chandra Kishore Patil from Indiranagar, Nashik, took it upon himself to stop people from polluting the river with “holy waste.”
Kishore Patil stops people from dumping garbage in Godavari River | Image: Twitter @swethaboddu
Patil stood beside the River Godavari for an entire day and prevented people from throwing garbage in the river. The inspirational story of this man came to light after IFS officer Swetha Boddu tweeted about him, which received much appreciation for the man’s actions.
Patil has been living in a society near the river and had been witnessing the water getting polluted year after year as people disposed of their waste in the river after festivities. Five years ago, he pledged to take a stand against river pollution and has been stopping people from dumping garbage into the river.
I’ve been doing this every year for five years now. And will continue doing this till my health permits. I stand beside the river from morning till 11 pm at night with a whistle and alert people not to throw garbage in the river. Many behave rudely with me, but I still pursue them not to do such things.
Patil said.
When people try to disobey the simple rule of “not throwing the garbage in the river,” Patil fills bottles with the river water and asks people to take a sip from it, which they obviously refuse and he makes them realize their contribution to the river pollution.
Image: Twitter @swethaboddu
All the accumulated waste then gets collected by the municipality and taken away to a separate dump yard for proper waste management and disposal.
While his actions have been lauded by many, one can only hope that people take inspiration from him as well and help to curb the river pollution in India.