Mumbai: Colaba’s Navy Nagar, which is Asia’s largest Naval residential base, has taken a green leap, with personnel and residents of the Naval Officers and Residents Association (NOFRA) pledging to ensure that the defence colony is devoid of plastic and e-waste.
The ultimate aim is to prevent plastic and e-waste from entering the landfills and turning the NOFRA into India’s best zero waste campus. On Saturday, residents of over 60 buildings, who are part of the NOFRA and Fauji Wives Eco Warriors, vowed to make south Mumbai more sustainable.
The neighbourhood has joined the plastic and e-waste recyclothon initiatives led by NGO Project Mumbai. During the launch event held at the NOFRA's activity area, the residents decided to responsibly donate their plastic and e-waste to the NGO. Taking the first step in this direction, the Naval officials and the residents also beautified benches, made from recycled plastic donated by Mumbaikars.
Colaba's Navy Nagar commits to a zero-waste future, donating plastic and e-waste to prevent landfill waste | File Photo
Commodore Rishi Raj Kohli, commanding officer of INS Angre, assured that 20,000 residents of the defence colonies will turn Navy Nagar into India’s complete zero waste colony. “I extend the entire support of my staff and team in ensuring that the least amount of waste is found anywhere. In partnership with Project Mumbai, the first zero waste garden across all naval colonies will come here,” he said.
As part of the initiative, regular training sessions will be held across the schools, residential buildings and offices within the colony to inspire people of all age groups. Shishir Joshi, founder and CEO of Project Mumbai, said that while this is the first step in the Naval defence area, the NGO now has lakhs of citizens donating plastic and e-waste to ensure it does not go to landfill.
“Our effort is to engage with as many citizens and build a sense of ownership towards one's city and make it a better place to live,” he said. Saloni Kumawat, Project Mumbai initiative head, said, “The plastic will then get recycled into amenities; some of them for the naval colony as well, including benches and zero waste gardens.”
Plastic recyclothon has grown into Mumbai's largest citizen-led movement for plastic waste management with over 10 lakh volunteers. The initiative aims to promote segregation, collection and recycling of plastic waste into useful products like benches, bins and tiles.
