Meet Bilal Dar, An 18-Year-Old Kashmiri Ragpicker Hailed By Modi On Mann Ki Baat For Cleaning Wular Lake

September 25,  North Kashmir It was a day of 18-year-old Bilal Dar alias Billa of Laharwarpora of Bandipora district on Sunday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned his name in the Mann Ki Baat radio address. Bilal Dar was 14-years-old when he started earning his living by picking up waste from the Wular Lake in Bandipora district of north Kashmir in 2013. Bilal's father Mohammad Ramzan Dar, who was also a ragpicker, died in 2003 due to cancer. Bilal took to collecting plastic trash and other waste material from the Wular lake which would fetch him Rs 150-200 per day, which helped him financially support his mother Mughali Appa and two sisters. According to Srinagar Municipal commissioner Dr Shafkat Khan, Bilal collects over 12,000 kg trash annually from the lake which besides earning him a livelihood, also helped get rid of pollution caused due to garbage is thrown in the lake by the residents living nearby. "I used to take somebody's boat in the wee hours of every morning and collect the rags from the Lake and which would fetch me some money after selling the same to trash dealers in the market," Bilal Dar told TOI. It was a documentary produced by a Kashmiri filmmaker Jalal-u-Din Baba which depicted Bilal's life that brought him recognition. The documentary won several awards in Mumbai and in the US at film festivals, according to producer Baba. "Now we have appointed Dar as the brand ambassador of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation. He will be given a special uniform and a vehicle to go and meet people in Srinagar's commercial and residential areas, to tell people the story of his work in Wular. This will help sensitise urban residents to understand the value of environmental issues, cleanliness and garbage disposal," Dr Shafkat Khan said. Bilal Dar said, "I am very happy today that my work even acknowledged by the no less than the prime minister of India Modi." While Tassaduq Mufti, brother CM Mehbooba Mufti gave me a boat for the collection of garbage from the lake, the state government gave Rs. 50,000 for construction of the house. Though this is meagre amount to build a house yet I am satisfied with whatever, help the government provided me, Bilal Dar said.