Under the guidance of the Uttar Pradesh government, the Kanpur Ploggers’ Group has been diligently cleaning Ganga ghats of Kanpur for 183 weeks, barring the period during COVID-19 pandemic.
The initiative caught the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who highlighted Kanpur and Lucknow in the 116th episode of his radio program, ‘Mann Ki Baat’. Praising the youth involved in the campaign, he called their efforts a remarkable example of dedication.
The prime minister noted that the unique initiative is underway in Kanpur, where morning walkers contribute to cleanliness by collecting plastic and other waste from the Ganga Ghat banks. The group, known as the Kanpur Ploggers, was founded by a group of youth committed to making a difference in their community.
In addition to waste collection, members of the group also protect the plants along the ghats by using tree guards made from collected garbage. The group’s efforts are aligned with the cleanliness initiatives under the Yogi Government, with municipal corporations across the state actively participating in similar campaigns. In Kanpur, the Ploggers’ Group has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Municipal Corporation to further support these environmental efforts.
Dr. Sanjeevani Sharma, a dentist by profession, is the founder and president of the Kanpur Ploggers Group. The group began its cleanliness drive on March 6, 2021, and has since been cleaning the Ganga Ghats every Sunday for 183 weeks. The campaign was only paused during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To involve the public, a WhatsApp group with 850 members was created, along with the use of other social media platforms. Members receive messages about the location and timing of the next cleanup, and 40 to 200 people gather each time to contribute. Dr. Sharma believes that those who pick up others’ waste are unlikely to litter themselves, and this philosophy drives their mission.
The group’s secretary, Pooja Srivastava, and the vice-president, Abhishek Purwar, shared that participants range from a 65-year-old senior citizen to a seven-year-old child. The oldest volunteer, advocate Anoop Dwivedi, and young Viraj, work together to keep the ghats clean.
This movement has grown to include local representatives, administrators, municipal corporations, and people of all ages and backgrounds. Together, they are making a significant impact on keeping the Ganga Ghats clean and fostering a sense of responsibility towards the environment.
The efforts of the Kanpur group have received appreciation from all quarters. Founder Dr. Sanjeevani Sharma shared that Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspired her through a post on his ‘X’ account in 2021. In his post, the Prime Minister shared how he combined his morning walk with plogging during a visit to a beach in Kerala, picking up waste while jogging. Motivated by this, Dr. Sharma thought, “Why can’t I do the same?” This led to the formation of the Kanpur Ploggers Group, which has since actively engaged the public through social media.
The Kanpur Municipal Corporation has played a significant role in supporting this initiative. Dr. Sharma mentioned that the group collaborates with a plastic recycling factory in Rania, where hundreds of volunteers from the group have been sending plastic waste for the past three years.
Even vendors at Maggie Points near Ganga Barrage contribute by giving used packets to the group, which are then sent for recycling. Remarkably, 3,750 plastic packets have been melted and transformed into tree guards. In this way, plastic waste that once polluted the environment is now being used to protect trees, giving a new purpose to discarded materials.
Under the guidance of CM Yogi, all Municipal Corporations in Uttar Pradesh are actively contributing to cleanliness drives. In Kanpur, the Kanpur Ploggers Group has partnered with the Kanpur Municipal Corporation through a MoU. During plogging drives, the corporation provides trucks to ensure waste is not left unattended. The collected waste is handed over to the corporation by the group, which transports it to waste plants for proper disposal.
This collaboration not only promotes cleanliness but also aids in managing single-use plastic effectively, with mutual support between the organization and the municipal corporation.