Seas The Day, Clean The Bay

Goa is a tropical paradise, scattered with beaches all along its coast. In fact, it is one of India’s biggest tourist destinations because of its picturesque beaches, each one better than the other. Unfortunately, with great beauty comes a heavy price. Over the past few years, Goa’s once-pristine beaches have become a dumping group for tourists and a few locals.

One of the main problems with public littering is that most people don’t care. Nikita Braganca, a local Goan from North Goa, admits that she was one of those people who didn’t care about such matters. Until one day, when she was at the beach right near her house and found copious amounts of garbage littered all over.

The fact that there were empty dustbins nearby but yet trash was strewn all over the sand was a turning point for her. She decided that it was time for her to try and do something about it. She, along with a few friends, armed themselves with a pair of gloves and a few garbage bags and went about cleaning Miramar beach. 

Like most young adults, Nikita posted a few pictures on her social media and the response to it was overwhelming. Numerous people replied back to her stories and commented on her post asking if they could be a part of the next clean up. Motivated by all the response, Nikita Braganca decided to start hosting beach cleanup drives as often as she could. She began educating people and making them aware of the careless attitude of littering on the beach through social media.

As a self-proclaimed beach bum and lover of picturesque sunsets, Nikita spends majority of her free time at the beach. So, giving back to nature and helping clean the place that she loves turned into something she truly enjoys doing and looks forward to. Of course, it isn’t easy juggling the cleanup drives while being a college student and working on freelance projects, but Nikita made time, only taking breaks during her exams. 

“Not a single beach in Goa, or for that matter India, is clean. You will find not only plastic but the most unimaginable things.” Nikita goes on to explain that there are dustbins every one or two metres and yet no one has the decency to use them. During her clean up drives, she has often noticed that people throw their trash near the garbage but not inside the bin. 

Cleaning up these vast stretches of sandy shores isn’t easy. Especially in Miramar where you will often find used syringes. Some syringes get washed up on the shore and some are chucked and left there. Not only does this endanger the cleanup volunteers but the children who play on the beach and the adults too.

That being said she has noticed a lot of positives during her cleanup drives. Often, strangers who see her cleaning up the beach randomly come to join her and pitch in. It’s these little things that make all the difference. 

Nikita stressed on the importance of a more effective and interactive environmental studies course for schools and colleges. She believes that we need to not only educate children via presentations and videos but by making them actively participate in clean up drives. Thus inculcating in them a sense of responsibility and pride for their surroundings. 

She believes that it’s up to the younger generation to make a difference. It’s the young adults and teenagers who are constantly aware of things due to social media. They have access to so much information regarding all these different things. She uses her social media platform to awaken people from their delusional ‘if it doesn’t concern me why should it bother me attitude’. She wants people to realize that cleaning up the beaches isn’t only about the now, it’s for the future generations too. The garbage from the beaches lands up in the sea, destroying the plant life at the bottom of the ocean and eventually some of it gets digested by the fish we eat. All this will lead to a domino effect that will eventually come back to devour us!

Another one of Nikita’s goals is to inform people that they don’t have to come and join her cleanups or wait for a special organised cleanup drive, all they need to do is take a look at their surroundings and see how they could make a difference there. 

Nikita is currently a brand ambassador for YIMBY India, a waste management and eco-friendly product brand. She believes in making a conscious shift to more sustainable products and reducing the amount of plastic one consumes on a daily basis. Nikita’s passion makes her a force to be reckoned with for when she sets her mind on something, nothing can stop her. She hopes to start an NGO that focuses on nature and the environment in the near future.

Kudos to her. We pray that there are many more Nikitas in the nextgen.

Written By Jessica Albuquerque.

A master of being a Jack of all Trades, A method in madness some may say. I’m just a girl on a never-ending journey, Standing on the precipice of my next big story.

Week 15, April 2021