Mumbai: It was a year ago when a few health-conscious people in Sweden were clearing the litter lying on roads while jogging. It took no time for the phenomenon to spread across the globe like a wildfire. Referred to as ‘Plogging’ (an amalgamation ‘jogging’ and the Swedish expression ‘plocka upp’, which means — to pick up), the latest fitness fad is slowly catching up among exercisers in India who are fed up with the litter lying along their route. Taking advantage of this latest trend, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be organising a plogging event on October 2 to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary and four years of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
The motive behind the activity is to create mass awareness against littering and usage of plastic items in the capital city of Karnataka.
Even though plastic items are banned in Karnataka people continue to use it. What is even worse is that people recklessly dump plastic in public areas and on roads that eventually harms the environment. Through the plogging initiative we want to tell citizens of Bengaluru to refrain from littering. We chose October 2 as Mahatma Gandhi had dreamt of a litter-free India and plogging is our contribution to his dream, says an official from BBMP’s Solid Waste Management department.
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Plog with Avni on October 2nd to make our city #PlasticFree
Join the movement – https://t.co/cIktY855Up#IAmLessPlastic #GoNative pic.twitter.com/vJcOmw1V3c
— Bengaluru Plog Run (@Plog_Run) September 21, 2018
The massive plogging event was announced recently by N Manjunath Prasad, Commissioner, BBMP. He said that an initiative of this sort will help the city in curbing the littering problem by encouraging citizens to manage the waste they discard.
Ramakrishna Ganesh, Chief Mentor Plog.run was also present at the event, said the plogging across the city will lead to a healthy environment. His initiative started about two months ago with 40 people has collected over 100 bags of plastic waste through plogging.
Plogging is open to everyone and all one has to do is register online and report at seven in the morning. A plogging kit consisting of gloves, garbage bags and apron will be given to each participant for the Plog Run. So far more than 5,000 people have registered, and the event is expected to draw at least 10,000 participants. The BBMP is hoping to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for having the world’s largest plastic-free movement.
Also Read: Tamil Nadu Set To Declare Its Urban And Rural Areas Open Defecation Free This Gandhi Jayanti
From actors, sportspersons, corporates, teachers to the government officials, the civic body is roping in several celebrities to spread awareness.
The problem of single-use plastic items is huge in Bengaluru. Plogging is a great initiative to tackle it. I have pledged my support and will be plogging on October 2. I request all of you to join me and help make Bengaluru plastic-free this Gandhi Jayanti, said actor Ramesh Aravind.
Plog with @Ramesh_aravind on October 2nd to make our city #PlasticFree
Join the movement – https://t.co/cIktY855Up#IAmLessPlastic #GoNative pic.twitter.com/QzqGGQd3pv
— Bengaluru Plog Run (@Plog_Run) September 24, 2018
Echoing a similar appeal Jemcy Nanjappa, Co-ordinator of Plog.run said,
We can collectively strive towards making Bengaluru free from plastic litter by educating each other and engaging in plogging. I request everyone to come join us and help the city eradicate single-use plastic by recycling it in the right way.
Plog with Jemcy Nanjappa on October 2nd to make our city #plasticfree
Join the movement – https://t.co/cIktY855Up#IAmLessPlastic #GoNative pic.twitter.com/uCgU5vfMv7— Bengaluru Plog Run (@Plog_Run) September 25, 2018
The 3-km run will be held at 50 different locations in the city. At the end of the run the participants will have to deposit their bags and the waste collected will be treated by the sanitation workers of BBMP at dry waste collection centres.
Also Read: With Cleanliness And Fitness On The Same Board, This 35-Year Old Is Promoting Plogging In India
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.
