River bank and ghat cleanup

About this task

In Brahmanbaria, the district of the Titas, river banks and ghats are everyday paths; the plastic that gathers there ends up in the water. Picking plastic bottles, polythene and snack packets off a ghat or a set stretch of river bank; sellable plastic sorted out, the rest onto the municipal truck; and two bins and a sign at the ghat at the end.

Why it matters

Our rivers are the life of the country, yet many beside towns are choked with plastic and waste. Plastic left on the bank goes into the river with the tide or rain, harming fish and people.

What changes after

The bank clean, in before and after photos; bins at the ghat; the ghat committee takes on emptying them.

Who can join

Anyone over 14; school and college groups do it well.

What it costs

Getting ready, step by step

• 7 days before

  Walk the ghat and fix the stretch (say 500 m to 1 km) to clean.

  Give a letter to the ghat committee and the municipality or union parishad; fix the waste truck's time.

  Ask a local boatman or ghat worker about the tide times.

• 3 days before

  Buy gloves, sacks, bins and the first aid box; keep receipts.

  Fix the sign's words and send it to print: “Here, not in the river”.

  Ask a scrap dealer what they pay per kilo for plastic bottles.

• The day before

  Remind everyone: closed shoes, full sleeves, a cap, a water bottle.

  Split the team and write down who takes which part.

• On the day

  Take the before photos from fixed spots before starting.

  Bottles apart, the rest in sacks; load it on the waste truck.

  Set the bins and sign, then take after photos from the same spots.

• The week after

  Visit the ghat and see whether the bins are being emptied.

  Put the bottle money and the spending account in the proof.

Who does what

• Lead (1): Speaks with the ghat committee and municipality, keeps time, does the account. — ____________
• Safety and first aid (1): Makes sure nobody goes into the water or works without shoes and gloves; dresses cuts. — ____________
• Pickers (7): Pick plastic, polythene and packets from their stretch. — ____________
• Sorting and sacks (2): Sort bottles out, tie sacks, load the truck. — ____________
• Photos and records (1): Before and after photos, number of sacks, weight of bottles. — ____________

The day, hour by hour

• 07:00Gather, sign in, hand out gloves and sacks, safety talk (nobody in the water).
• 07:20Before photos from fixed spots.
• 07:30Teams start picking; each team keeps a separate bottle sack.
• 09:0015-minute break in the shade, water and snack.
• 09:15Pick and sort again; tie sacks and stack them in one place.
• 10:30Load the waste truck; bottles to the scrap dealer or set aside.
• 11:00Set the bins and sign, hand them over to the ghat committee.
• 11:30After photos, team photo, wash hands, done.

What can go wrong, and what to do

• Someone slips into the water → Work at least two arm-lengths from the edge; keep a swimmer and a rope on the bank; call 999 in danger.
• Cuts from broken glass, needles or sharp tin → Touch nothing bare-handed; put needles or syringes in a separate hard bottle; wash a cut and bandage it, take deep ones to a health centre.
• The waste truck does not come → Tie the sacks and keep them on high ground away from the water; contact the municipality again the next day.
• The tide covers the bank → Know the tide time beforehand; when the water starts rising, stop and come up.

Useful numbers

• 999National emergency: police, fire, ambulance (free)
• 333Government information, services and complaints

Team notes