Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden, and his wife Queen Silvia on Wednesday engaged in removing tonnes of plastic and other garbage along with young lawyer and Mumbai-based climate activist Afroz Shah at Versova beach.
On the occasion, Shah, who is best known for organising in the world's largest beach clean-up project, also gave a short presentation to the Swedish King and Queen on the Versova beach clean-up project.
The royal couple interacted with volunteers of the Versova Beach clean-up project.
After completing their engagements in the national couple, the King and Queen of Sweden flew to Mumbai on Wednesday morning.
The royal couple is scheduled to meet Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari at Raj Bhavan later and will embark for Dehradun the next day to visit Ram Jhula Bridge and Bathing Ghat in Uttarakhand.
On Tuesday, the Swedish King chaired a dialogue on circular economy approaches in India alongside senior Swedish and Indian government officials in New Delhi and discussed current initiatives underway for tackling the issues of air pollution and waste in India.
He also spoke about the importance of improving the quality of forests and acknowledged that the round-table made him feel positive that many different stakeholders are committed to working on conservation and climate change, the Swedish embassy in India said in a statement.
They will inaugurate the Sarai Sewage Treatment Plant in Haridwar on Thursday.
Concluding their visit, the couple will emplane for New Delhi on Friday and thereafter will leave for Stockholm.
Photographs: Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters
