Not all heroes wear capes and Mumbai lawyer cum environment crusader, Afroz Shah rightly proves so! The man who began with making a small effort towards nature by volunteering to clean Versova beach in 2015 has now become the face of plastic-free Mumbai beaches.
Shah hit headlines when he along with his team collected 14 million kg of plastic and other pollutant waste from the Versova beach. Thanks to social media, stories of his contribution towards mother nature became so popular that his efforts were also recognized and appreciated by the United Nations.
There was no looking back for the environmentalist ever since. He took up cleanliness projects one after the other and managed to clean the 1.25-km stretch of plastic waste alongside the Mithi river in the city. Apart from the volunteers at Afroz Shah Foundation, people living in the slum near the river too participated in the cleanliness drive lead by Shah.
Week 161.#BeatPlasticPollution #Connectwithnature#Mithiriver
Tete with students from Thakur college of law – Need to hug nature as we hug our loved ones.
Recce at the mouth of Mithi River – This river needs our hug.
We intend to Hug it tight and long – New love – New date pic.twitter.com/JEm0bd7VJv
— Afroz shah (@AfrozShah1) November 14, 2018
So far, Shah along with the volunteers at his foundation have managed to collect 60 million pounds of garbage, specifically plastic from rivers and beaches in and around the city.
His remarkable contribution towards the ‘Top 10 Heroes of 2019’. The list included the names of people who are making the world a better place to live and Feroz Shah has deservingly earned a spot on the list. Shah is also the only Indian to get featured on the coveted list.
by CNN in their list ofThank you CNN for making me a hero
I may thank you for being generous by bestowing on me what I don't deserve .It is my bit for our ocean
I would love to call myself a hero when the hapless marine species feel safe from our habits of plastic pollution.
https://t.co/b557WK0F6r— Afroz shah (@AfrozShah1) October 30, 2019
All the 10 world heroes on the list will reportedly receive a cash prize of $10,000 (Rs. 7 Lakh) each. CNN will announce the ultimate hero (winner) on December 8 who will also receive an additional cash prize of $100,000 (Rs. 70 Lakh).
Apart from his priceless contribution with cleanliness drives, Feroz Shah is certainly making India. Kudos to you, Sir!