Meet the man who guards the Godavari against pollution2 min read
Reading Time: 2 minutesA whistle is his only weapon against those who are planning to dump waste in Godavari. But, it is an effective one!
It all started 5 years ago.
Chindra Kishore Patil lives in a society close to the river. Over the years, he had seen how dumping garbage into the river, especially around festivities, was destroying it and the health of the people who lived close to it.
So, in 2015, he decided to take a stand and stop people from polluting the river.
How does he do it?
Every year, around the festivities, he stands beside the river from morning all the way till 11 pm in the night and directly stops people, by blowing a whistle, from throwing waste into the river.
As expected, he gets a lot of resistance but he has a fine solution for that.
He keeps a bottle of the river water ready and asks the opposers to take a sip from the bottle if they think dumping their garbage does not add to the river’s pollution. Understandably, he wins this debate.
The waste collected is then picked up by the municipality and taken to a separate dump yard.
Despite the resistance and the rigour, Mr Patil has said that he will continue to do this till his health permits. His efforts have gone viral on the internet after a tweet by an IFS Officer, Sweta Boddu.
There is so much to learn from him! He is the real hero of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. And he does not wear a cape or carry a cool armour. But he is there to save the river with a whistle and a bottle of river water-
a simple act with a powerful impact!
Think with Owliver:
What human activities can pollute rivers? How can we prevent it?
Let Owliver know in the comments, below!
Image courtesy Adityamadhav83 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22525354
Chandrakishor patil
Thanks mam
Akash
Yes, indeed very inspirational article. Thanks for the note!