It’s Greta Thunberg movement in Bengaluru for green Earth

Bengaluru: Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg, 16,  has been sending out messages to politicians and corporates worldwide and Namma Bengalureans too are now walking the footsteps of the youngest Thalaivar of global climate change movement.

Thousands of city denizens have been actively participating in the Global Climate Week 2019 that started on Friday, an offshoot of 'Fridays for Future' movement bugled by Greta in Sweden and then in the US making the ruling politicians world over answerable for the fast degrading global climate.

The second day of the movement on Saturday was observed as 'World Clean Up Day.' As part of the event, several volunteers spruced up Brigade Road, Kalkare Lake and Holystoked Skate Park in Hegde Nagar.

"The clean-ups are a form of active and peaceful protests meant to draw attention to the fact that as a society we mismanage our waste and unnecessarily consume too much. The clean-up model also aims to build a series of local guardians for their own neighbourhoods - people who are willing to travel that extra mile to make sure that their environment remains healthy and hygienic. Gloves, bags and other equipment were provided by the organisers", said Jacob Cherian, Clean-ups and Content Coordinator for Fridays For Future (FFF) India.

On Friday, over 1000 protestors led by Jhatkaa.org, Fridays For Future India and Extinction Rebellion took to the stairs of city's Town Hall from 5 pm to 7 pm  as part of a worldwide event aimed at pressuring the governments and corporates to be truthful about their impacts on the environment and take restorative steps to address climate change.

'Bengaluru participation beats Europe, western countries': "Bengalureans are quite a responsible lot, particularly the youths. Though about 1000 members participated in the 'climate justice' movement this global climate week is a lot less compared to the 12 million population in Bengaluru. The numbers are way more promising than in Europe and most western countries", said Karen Raymond, Climate Strike organiser, FFF India. There has been a steady rise in the participation of 12 global strikes held, she expressed. "On May 15 this year, we had 100 people participating while it touched about 450 on May 24 and a whopping 1000 on September 20", Karen disclosed.      

Over a third of the attendees were students, as compared to the Fridays For Future demonstration in May. In the last event, 75 percent of participants were students, said Jacob.

"This worldwide event brought out a number of working professionals and parents as well. All of this is a part of a series of events that will be spread across the week of Sep tember 20th-27th, which is Global Climate Strike Week", added Jacob.

Volunteers hope that the 'Greta Paraak' will take Bengalureans by storm in the Global Week for Climate Justice to revive Bengaluru into a healthy habitat for all.