The dedicated team at CleanMountains recently decided to organize a clean-up drive on 15th Feb, 2020 at Shivagange. Thanks to the support offered by multiple trekking organisations (mentioned later in the post) and RV college by providing volunteers for the event.
Shivagange is a mountain peak about 50 km from Bangalore, India. Its shape resembles shivalinga and a spring which flows nearby and is locally called as ‘ganga’. Hence the name ‘Shivagange’. Because of the multiple temples of significance, the place has a high religious significance and hence a lot of people come here to visit and pay homage to gods at the temples on this mountain. It is also a good place for rock climbing.
Early Saturday Start !
We started from all across Bangalore early Saturday morning at around 4:30 – 5:00am. Since there were over 250 people coming from different parts of Bangalore, we were split in multiple routes. People started reaching assembly point at Shivagange base at 6:30am onwards. With our breakfast given to us in the lunch boxes all of us were carrying and gloves & masks provided, we started the trek up the hill.
The Trek
The trek is quite nice with amazing views. At multiple places steps were carved out of the huge rocky terrain we were walking on. A lot of times, the steps were quite necessary due to the steep incline of the trek at those points. The trek is about 2.3 km. The views of the nearby area from the mountain are mesmerizing. In fact, the temples at the top of the mountain give an unforgettable experience. Some of us had breakfast while going up while others had to have their breakfast in installments as monkeys kept on coming near them as soon as they started eating.
The Clean-up
After reaching the top, we started cleaning various areas of the discarded plastic bottles and other not bio-degradable stuff. It was disheartening to see so much garbage in areas so close to the temples. A good number of gunny bags got filled in the top itself which were then carried down by us. Some of the volunteers started descending where empty gunny bags were placed at various points so that volunteers could take them and fill them with the garbage in the route.
It was quite a motivating feeling to see enthusiastic participation from people of all ages – students, working professionals in late 20s and 30s and a few people in their 60s as well. With everyone’s efforts we were able to bring down numerous gunny bags filled mainly with plastic trash. We loaded all the bags in a truck. We had to pack them and stuff them closely for all the bags to fit in a big truck.
Following are the overall details of the trek
Total number of volunteers participated: 258
Total number of bags brought: 280
Total weight of the trash brought: 700 kg
Event Partners: Adventure Adda, Bangalore Hikers, Bangalore AdvenTuRers, Bangalore Adventure School, Bangalore Mountaineering Club, Bangalore Trekking Club, Decathlon, Get Beyond Limits, Green Leaf Adventures, High On Hills, Intrepid Trekkers, Out and About, Plan the Unplanned, RVITM (R V Institute of Technology and Management), Travel Stories, Trek Nomads, Treks Unlimited
All these numbers and such a huge participation reminds me of the quote :
No one can do everything, but everyone can do something, and together we can change the world
Ronald J. Sider
A big thanks to all the volunteers, organizations and individuals who made this event successful !