What got the mayor's goat was a hasty beach cleaning campaign organised by the BMC hours before he was to visit the location. According to witnesses, a group of around 20 contract workers descended on the sands and began a frantic clean-up job. The officials honestly admitted that the clean up was only because the mayor was to visit the beach.

Later, in a unique example of symbiosis, a citizen's group assisted by the Indian Navy and a hotel, swept the two-kilometre-long Aksa beachfront clean in a gruelling six-hour-long operation on Sunday.

Nearly a hundred volunteers, including naval sailors assisted by Resort Hotel staff and members of the Rotract Club of Dahisar Coast, doubled over the beach collecting the remains of what looked like the largest beach picnic ever, thousands of plastic bags, bottles, tetrapacks and disposableplates.

``We have decided to make this Mumbai's first plastic and garbage free beach by January 1, 2000,'' says a tanned and sweaty Nitin Thakoor of the Rotract Club.

Over 3,000 people visit Aksa on holidays, mostly from the northern suburbs. Over the years, this pristine beach, known more for the high body count of swimmers in its dangerous waters, has turned into a dump.

The Resort hotel located on the beach front did contribute employees to keep certain areas of the beach clean, but of late it's been like water off a duck's back. ``We've been overwhelmed by sheer numbers,'' shrugs Anuj Prakash, the hotel's general manager.

On weekends, with its hordes of visitors, handcarts and vendors, the beach resembles a mini Chowpatty. The surge in visitors has littered the beach with urban jetsam including millions of plastic drinking straws. The sole dustbin at the access road to the beach stands overflowing and attended to only by stray cattle. Commander H S Chopra, Executive Officer of the INS Hamla navaltraining establishment on the beach explains how he saw a dead turtle washed ashore ten days ago, possibly after consuming these straws.

The navy for its part has been keeping its part of the beach clean, says Cdr Chopra, which is why they were approached by the Rotractors. ``We clean the beach two or three times every week, the fact that we have banned plastic bags in our area has also helped,'' says Cdr Chopra. The new joint initiative will clean the beach every fortnight on a regular basis.