Kerala: Environmental organisation conducts beach cleaning programme in Trivandrum

In a bid to save the nature and fight the menace of plastic, an environmental organisation, 'Thanal' here on Saturday conducted a programme called 'Plastic Taskforce'.

The cleanup drive was carried out at a beach in Trivandrum on the occasion of International Coastal Cleanup Day (ICCD).

Programme Co-ordinator, Shibu told ANI, "This drive is to generate awareness among the local community on plastic pollution. This programme is in connection with the International Coastal Cleanup Day."

"Plastic has become a global concern and now this is being discussed for economic reasons because many large industries are dependent on the resources of the ocean. Their products are getting contaminated with plastic," he highlighted.

Talking about the single-use plastic, the co-ordinator said, "There is a growing dissent against plastic pollution around the globe. The real challenge is to get rid of the single-use plastic. More than 60 per cent of the products in the market are single-use plastic and is ending up at environmentally sensitive areas and also affecting the local livelihood."

"Thanal is one of the prominent organisations of Kerala and the programme name is 'Plastic Taskforce'. Volunteers have come up from multiple districts to participate in the programme," Shibu added.

A volunteer, Akhila said, "We have come here to participate in the programme. We have segregated the papers, plastic and other kinds of packets from each other. We are going to carry this out in other places as well."

World Cleanup Day is a global social action program which is celebrated with an aim to combat the global solid waste problem, including the problem of marine debris. It is celebrated by doing litter cleanup and waste mapping activities spanning every time zone.

People around the country are actively participating in the cleaning drives conducted in various cities.