People's mindset not changing: Activist after suspending Versova cleanup drive

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 22 (ANI): After suspending largest beach clean-up drive at Versova, Lawyer and social activist Afroz Shah here on Wednesday said that people's mindsets were not changing.

"I was working very hard at ground level, but I realized people's mindsets were not changing, must face it truthfully. Drew a balance sheet to see where I was after 109 weeks when my volunteers were told off the beach," he told ANI.

He further said, "Accepting defeat is a positive sign. It forces you to think how to change things again. I will learn from it and do something good in the future."

Shah suspended the drive, which he started two years ago, on Sunday after alleging that a few goons had thrashed him for cleaning up a pile of garbage.

Earlier in the day, Afroz said, "Our work was voluntary driven; and we worked with a Gandhian response to the problem of garbage."

Shah had started the campaign in October 2015 and has reportedly removed over five million kilograms of trash from the beach. Their movement even received recognition from United Nations Environment Programme after they were awarded with Champions of the Earth award in 2016. (ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI