Thane resident Chinu Kwatra, who has spearheaded beach clean-ups at Dadar and six other locations in the city, has threatened to suspend work from this weekend till he gets a written apology from a company.
Mr. Kwatra announced the decision on social media after an ad agency littered Dadar beach with plastic bottles on May 5 and shot a video of a model clearing the waste. He said that the ad was shot to promote the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of a company. He said, “On Tuesday, I received an email from the advertising agency apologising for what they did. But the company also has to do the same. The company should also know what the agency is doing in the name of CSR initiatives.”
Mr. Kwatra said that he would visit the beach along with other volunteers, but would not carry out any clean-up activities until the company issues a written apology. He said, “We do not have a problem with people coming and doing such promotional activities because it helps the larger cause of beach clean-up. But they have to be realistic. It is not done to first litter the beach and then clean it up just for the camera.”
Support on social media
Mr. Kwatra has been organising clean-up drives at Cuffe Parade, Worli, Bandra, Malad, Gorai and Juhu. His message on Twitter attracted the attention of citizens, including Yuva Sena president Aditya Thackeray, who termed the act “shameful”.