Mumbai rises with the tide along with 410 youth, children and citizens to bring life back to the shore

Mumbai: More than 400 Mumbaikars, young and not so young, spent a better part of this morning–and the last leg of their Diwali holidays– giving a bit of their time for a city they love. In India’s financial capital city Mumbai, people volunteered to clean the city’s coastline at Juhu and collected 1946 kgs of plastic waste. All this will be recycled into amenities and which was also part of the awareness exercises, inculcating behaviour change and ensuring no waste goes into landfill. All this was done under a special initiative - “Jallosh: Clean Coasts, Restore the Shore” which is a citizen-led initiative. Led by Project Mumbai, UNICEF India and YuWaah’s Green Rising and supported by the BMC and the Government of Maharashtra’s State Climate Action Cell and Majhi Vasundhara, apart from NSS, Nine is Mine, Maharashtra Youth for Climate Action, representing Mumbai’s college youth.

This initiative aims to restore Mumbai’s coastline and promote environmental responsibility, serving as a curtain raiser to Mumbai Climate Week in February 2026. It was recently announced by Maharashtra Chief Minister Fadnavis. This will be India’s first attempt towards south collaboration for climate actions with localised solutions. When young people act locally, they create ripples of change that impact the world. Through Green Rising, Generation Unlimited is empowering youth with the skills, confidence, and opportunities to turn climate action into lasting community impact, and scale it to global progress. What’s happening here in Mumbai is part of a worldwide movement to co-create a greener future for all.” Kevin Frey, CEO, Generation Unlimited (UNICEF) said.

At Juhu Koliwada, volunteers participated in a range of activities, including beach clean-up and waste segregation, shoreline restoration and awareness sessions on sustainable lifestyles. The citizen -led initiative aimed to bring about visible local change while contributing to global sustainability efforts. The event underscored the power of youth and collective citizen action in addressing climate and environmental challenges. “Through such moments of giving, Project Mumbai can see Mumbai soon becoming the Kindness capital of India. Beach clean ups such as these, inspire citizens to take ownership of their city and urban environment.

The initiative reflects how small, consistent community actions can lead to lasting change and build a resilient future for all,” Shishir Joshi, CEO and Founder, Project Mumbai. “The enthusiasm of young volunteers at Juhu Beach shows that when youth and citizens come together, they can turn the tide on climate change and we reaffirm our commitment to the Government of Maharashtra for making Mumbai Climate Week a successful consultation,” Sanjay Singh, Chief of UNICEF Maharashtra said.