Engineer transforms garbage crisis into global plogging mission

When Vivek Gurav came to Pune in 2013 to pursue computer engineering, the sight of the Mula-Mutha left him stunned.

- Shubham Kurale

They were filled with garbage, nothing like the clean Panchaganga, Krishna and Warna rivers near Gurav’s hometown of Jaysingpur in Kolhapur.Today, that shock has transformed into a plogging movement that has attracted over one lakh volunteers, cleared 9,500 tonnes of waste across cleanup drives and spread to over 30 cities in India and abroad. A graduate from the University of Bristol, Gurav continues to plog in the United Kingdom, but his journey began with a simple question from his parents: “Do you want to become a waste picker?”

Battling opposition

Though Gurav is now a public figure and a noted environmentalist, the beginning wasnt easy. “My father was a temple priest, and my mother a primary school teacher. So they questioned how I could be a waste picker. ‘Do you want to become Gadge Baba (an Indian mendicant-saint and social reformer)?” Gurav said. His reply was simple: “Why not?”

“Even my colleagues’ parents didn't support it, and our college administration was also against continuing it as a daily activity,’ Gurav added.

Despite opposition from his near and dear ones, Gurav was determined.

Rivers as sewers