For dentist Dr. Sanjivini Sharma, the sight of plastic and other waste accumulating along Kanpur’s Ganga ghats became a personal call to act. In March 2021, after reaching out to people in her city, she helped start Kanpur Ploggers, an initiative built around “plogging”, combining walking or jogging with picking up litter. Its first drive was held on March 6, 2021, and what began as a small community effort has since developed into a recurring environmental campaign.
The organisation has more than 800 volunteers and has prevented or collected significant quantities of waste through its clean-up and recycling initiatives. In July 2026, volunteers removed nearly 50 kg of non-biodegradable waste from Kanpur’s Lakhanpur Green Belt and planted around 100 saplings. The Kanpur Municipal Corporation supported the drive by providing a team and vehicle to transport the collected waste. The group’s work was also highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his November 2024 Mann Ki Baat address.
A Walk That Became Action
Sharma’s story began with an ordinary morning that became difficult to ignore. According to an account of Kanpur Ploggers’ beginnings, the dentist was at a Ganga ghat with her young son when she noticed the extent of plastic and other waste around a place that was otherwise meant to be enjoyed as a public space. The scale of the problem initially made the idea of tackling it alone seem overwhelming.
Instead of stopping at concern, however, Sharma used her social media presence in March 2021 to invite others to join her. The response was far larger than she expected, and Kanpur Ploggers conducted its first clean-up drive on March 6. The initiative was inspired by the idea of plogging, but its purpose was broader: to make people physically participate in keeping the places around them clean.
From Picking Waste to Changing Habits
What followed was not simply a series of litter-picking exercises. Kanpur Ploggers developed weekly clean-up drives and expanded its work into plastic collection, recycling, waste segregation, tree plantation, e-waste collection, fabric-waste reduction and environmental awareness. The organisation says it has built a community of more than 800 people and has collected or diverted large quantities of waste through its initiatives.
According to Kanpur Ploggers, it has collected more than 500,000 pieces of clean, dry plastic from homes and shops for recycling. Some of this waste has been turned into products such as cycle seat covers, pipes and tree guards. The group also says it has planted more than 500 saplings across Kanpur, using recycled tree guards to protect them. Together, these efforts reflect Sharma’s approach of treating waste not simply as something to be thrown away, but as material that can be collected, recycled and put to use.
Recognition, Then More Work
The initiative received wider attention in November 2024, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned the Kanpur Ploggers Group during the 116th episode of Mann Ki Baat. He described how the campaign, which began with a few friends, had grown into a larger public-participation effort. He noted that members were collecting waste not only from the Ganga banks but also from shops and homes, with some of the recovered material being used to make tree guards at a recycling plant. The group has continued its work since then.
During its July 2026 drive at Lakhanpur Green Belt, volunteers removed nearly 50 kg of non-biodegradable waste before planting around 100 saplings.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
There is something deeply human about Sharma’s journey: she saw a problem during a routine moment with her child and chose not to walk past it. Yet the significance of Kanpur Ploggers lies less in one person picking up litter and more in what happened when that action invited others to participate. Clean public spaces cannot be sustained by sanitation workers and civic authorities alone, just as citizens cannot solve urban waste problems without effective municipal systems and responsible disposal infrastructure.
The most meaningful change comes when both sides recognise their shared role. Sharma’s work offers a reminder that civic responsibility often begins with small, visible choices, while lasting environmental progress requires consistency, cooperation and empathy.
If we want cleaner cities, are we willing to ask not only who will clean our waste, but why we are leaving it behind in the first place?
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