Flash-forward to 2017 and things seem to have been turned upside down for the beach.
What once looked like a dumping ground filled with stinking trash, now looks like an idealistic clean and tidy beach.
Only few months ago Mint had reported on the cleanliness drive on the beach while work was still underway – the volunteers involved in the project managed to eradicate over 2.7 million pounds of trash from the beach since 2015, as the media outlet reported:
All of this happened thanks to the Mumbai based lawyer, Afroz Shah and a team started and lead by him back in 2015 that involved several volunteers to take up the cause of cleaning the beach of all the dump.
Afroz managed to gather several locals, celebrities and also representative of United Nations Environment Programme to transform the beach to its full glory after the tireless efforts of everyone for 85 weeks.
Shah shared the latest picture on his Twitter handle on 20th May with the caption, “This is versova beach an hour back. Week 85 of cleanup.Versova beach is gorgeous and clean now.we have done our bit.We need to maintain it.”
Just look at what the beach has been transformed into now:
This is versova beach an hour back. Week 85 of cleanup.Versova beach is gorgeous and clean now.we have done our bit.We need to maintain it. pic.twitter.com/98q9RD5aAg— Afroz Shah (@AfrozShah1) May 20, 2017
As the achievement of the Afroz Shah and his group went viral, he received outpouring admiration and praise for his work from celebrities, media personalities and the general public:
Wow.. never seen #Versova beach so clean.. kudos to @AfrozShah1 and team of volunteers #HeroesWithoutMakeup 👏👏👏#SaveOurOceans #SaveThePlanet https://t.co/5mrpTRDD4l— Randeep Hooda (@RandeepHooda) May 20, 2017
@narendramodi Mr Prime Minister it is people like @AfrozShah1 who are actually making Swach Bharat a reality! He needs your commendation. https://t.co/oqXwpW6Ud9— SUHEL SETH (@suhelseth) May 20, 2017
Well done !! Bravo @AfrozShah1 and citizens and Assoc s of versova! 👏🏻👏🏻 https://t.co/tPYCzDJeTG— Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) May 20, 2017
Wow..Goa feels. Kudos team👏👏. We need more people like you guys. https://t.co/ZL1NCFPZoU— Aditi (@aaditrix) May 20, 2017
So clean and gorgeous… Hard work always pays off… good work.. !! Wish I could helped you if lived in mumbai..love and support..!! https://t.co/1yUPT4dpte— Ashish Aggarwal (@ashish06_10) May 20, 2017
Hats off to you! Fantastic job! Unbelievable! https://t.co/k9JG0lcBZ1— tapan p (@patnaikt) May 20, 2017
Afroz and everyone involved with this cleanliness drive has proven the power people have to bring about a positive change in the society if the we lead our minds and efforts in the right direction.
KUDOS..!!