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A barefooted boy, barely three years old, walks up to one of the plastic dustbins placed on the road leading to Udvada gaam (village). Finding it too high for him, he stands on tip toe to marginally raise the lid and throw in the refuse, first from one hand and then from the other. For the trustees of Udvada’s Clean and Green Charitable Trust (CGCT), this was recompense for all their efforts: "He has won over our hearts. If this little lad can do it, can’t the rest of the villagers?” enquires the commentator in the brief 30-second video that draws attention to the importance of keeping one’s environment clean. The village hosts the Iranshah Atash Behram, the most venerated fire temple across the globe.
For the convenience of the locals, in the last three years since its foundation, the CGCT had strategically placed 95 large, 120-liter, plastic dustbins in the village. While some continue to be in use, others have been destroyed by hungry cattle foraging for food. In the absence of a gaushala (cattle shelter) to house unwanted strays, these bovines freely roam the lanes and bylanes of Udvada. Not to be dissuaded, CGCT has now placed 30 metallic dustbins.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In their efforts to privatize garbage collection in Udvada, since the last three months they have been supplementing the efforts of the Udvada Gram Panchayat. Thus while the Panchayat expends nearly one lakh rupees every month, the CGCT contributes Rs 73,500. Currently the Trust has enough in its coffers to sustain this activity for a year, trustee Filly Bapuna informed Parsiana, hoping more donors will step forward. Daily door-to-door collection of garbage, sweeping of streets and sprinkling of lime on the roads (to ward off termites and mice) is now a routine job. A special WhatsApp group of local residents maintains a vigil and posts photographs to ensure that the clean-up crew performs optimally. Frequent visitor to Udvada Mehroo Kotval appreciated the effort saying, "Garbage is definitely cleaned more often and well. But policies seem to change every few months. Bins shift loctions. People dump on the original site, not bothering to find out where the bins have been repositioned.” Udvada high priest Dastur Khurshed Dastoor is aware of CGCT activities but chose not to comment when approached by Parsiana.
Covering an area of around five kilometers (starting from the two imposing pillars on either side of the approach road), Udvada gaam has a population of around 5,400 of whom Parsis number barely 100. The local affairs come under the purview of the Panchayat headed by the sarpanch, Dharmendra Patel, popularly addressed as Rajubhai and the deputy sarpanch Sarosh Irani who is in the poultry farming business. 
"The main reason to launch the Trust was to create an organization that could have an impact in Udvada, to oversee the work that was being done, to work with others, and bring in funds and donations to plan and support other projects that would help Udvada to be showcased as well as grow and be nurtured as a more clean and green community,” trustee Zarine Bharda, the prime initiator, communicated to Parsiana. The nongovernmental organization has obtained the required 12A, 80CC, CSR (corporate social responsibility) clearances. "Clean and Green” which in Gujarati equates to "Swachh ane Sunder” is the wording frequently seen on the shirts of their volunteers and school children covered under the various programs initiated by CGCT.
"The need was definitely there. The locals had become complacent to the lifestyle that they had and the surroundings with the pollution and the garbage,” said Bharda when sharing her views with Parsiana. The trustees are "very passionate about creating a better impact… on our surroundings as also in the long run for mother nature and the environment,” she added. The others serving as CGCT trustees are Zenobia Sidhwa of Globe Hotel, Zarine’s husband Dara Bharda, his cousin Sarosh Bharda, both serving as priests at Udvada’s Pundole Adarian and the Iranshah, Tazin Bhathena from Surat and Nilesh Raichura who initially helped with the registration formalities. The core team members include Jamshed Dastur, Viraf Bhomisa, Behram Lakdawalla, Khushru Kumana, Zaraan Engineer, Irani and Gaurav Mangela.
"Our entire team along with the Udvada Gram Panchayat…plan to educate on why keeping Udvada free of garbage while utilizing segregation and recycling will keep (the village) free of disease and pestilence... Our mission is to make sure that the Udvada community understands why to recycle, how to renew and to be able to regrow together,” announces their website, cgudvada.com. While fines have been announced to deter litterers, none have been imposed so far.
There are nearly 180 members on the WhatsApp group named "Clean and Green Udvada.” However not a single response was elicited to an announcement seeking volunteers to clean the Udvada beach. "The majority pay lip service,” observed Bapuna. Despite the beach being cleaned periodically, high tide can repeatedly throw up filth, reminds Bapuna. Recently when the cleaning staff at Udvada was given a green shirt/ T-shirt sporting the CGCT logo, promptly came the suggestion that both male and female workers should be provided trousers too. It was left to Bapuna to find a donor willing to bear the cost!
The office bearers appreciate the organizations and individuals who have regularly supported CGCT’s many endeavors. Donations from Tatas have been used to build toilets on the beach for the fisherfolk, the machlimars who belong to the Mangelwar community. Three vacuum machines used for road clean-up were also financed by the Tatas. The Neterwala Group promised a recycling plant of 250 liters on the periphery of the village, but to operate the plant the Trust will need to extend the electricity lines by over a kilometre and install 34 kw transformers at an additional estimated cost of six to eight lakh rupees. The Poonawalla group that assists the local municipality to keep Poona clean, donated to CGCT a secondhand tempo for garbage collection. The Rustomframna Agiary in the Dadar Parsi Colony had contributed towards the cost of the dustbins in Udvada. The CGCT will be uploading their annual accounts for the last three years on their website to give proof of their transparency.
Their website has one section titled "Shop” to induce a visitor to the site to buy their merchandise. Bapuna, a businessman dealing with corporate souvenirs, has organized the sale of products displaying the CGCT logo: thick canvas eco bags for Rs 150, thin eco bags for Rs 125, masks for Rs 60 each and peaked caps for Rs 150. "Purchase an item and give back to nature,” urges the website.
The trustees have been planning projects to improve the lives of the locals. They have been reaching out to students at schools, hoping the younger generation would carry home the message and educate the parents. Bapuna recalled their early days when they decided to take the message to the school children and distributed chocolates and biscuits. After finishing the eats, the wrappers were promptly crumpled and discarded on the ground. "To create awareness, we made them pick up the litter.”
There are two local schools in Udvada, the Prathmik Shala which is a primary school and the Mistry High School run by the Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry family. Since a portion of the Prathmik Shala has collapsed, CGCT is on the lookout for a benefactor willing to bear the cost of reconstruction of 10 to 12 classrooms. The donor’s magnanimity could be acknowledged by linking his/her chosen name with the Prathmik Shala. New toilets have already been built in the primary school thanks to the initiative of Jamshed Dastur who is associated with the Dastur Baug dharamshala. At the last Iranshah Udvada Utsav, children from the local school sporting the CGCT T-shirt were given a platform to showcase their talent and create awareness about the Trust.
Coming from an engineering background, Bharda acknowledges this has brought "many benefits, whether to the Trust, or life in general.” Besides understanding the technological side of operations like hosting a website, she uses her skills "to support and manage different causes… and encourage the team, thinking outside of the box, utilizing what we have available with us and moving forward to achieve what we want to.” The young mother who is currently in Canada to deliver her fourth baby was happy to coordinate with Parsiana for the required information and photos.
Beginning July, the Trust will be intensifying its greening efforts with the support of villagers by planting trees, arranging for tree guards and drip irrigation. To see Udvada serve as "a model village for the rest of India,” is the vision of the trustees as spelt out by Bapuna. "Let’s see how far we can succeed.”