After 10 days of festivities, the city is gearing up to clean up the beaches. The day after the final immersions, the beaches will see various citizen groups pick up the left overs of the celebrations.

Even if a growing number of people are opting for eco-friendly idols, the beaches will be full of decayed flower garlands, coconut shells, festoons and plastic cups.

The number of immersions this year seem lower as compared to last year so the beaches are much cleaner but litter is still a problem, said Larson Fernandes, founder of Juhu Angels, an NGO. Fernandes, in association dna, will be heading to Juhu beach along with over 300 volunteers, early on Thursday to clean up the beach. Fernandes said the BMC is going to make arrangements to assist the volunteers.

The BMC arranges for trucks, so all the groups that come to the beach just need to fill the garbage into bags. The BMC workers will load it into trucks, said Fernandes. Starting as early as 5am, Fernandes says that the beach will be clean for visitors by around 8am. Over 200 students from Holy Cross School and St. Joseph High School will also volunteer. It is important that students learn to care for the environment so that they act responsibly in the future, said Fernandes.

However, he warns that the volunteers must be careful while performing the clean up. We will be arranging for masks and gloves for every volunteer. Apart from that there will also be a first-aid kit available, he said. With the risk of poisonous sea creatures coming ashore and harming the volunteers, an ambulance will also be stationed to ensure quick medical help.

Operation clean-up Date: September 19

Assembly point: Juhu Beach, Main Entrance Near Juhu Police station, Santa Cruz (West) Reporting Time: 5am

Individual & Group registration can be done at http://www.dnaindia.com/ecoganesha

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It's time to clean up beaches of the mess