Thiruvananthapuram: The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Sunday (June 11), held a cleanup drive at a beach near Vizhinjam here, as part of observing the World Ocean Day and collected nearly 150 kilograms of garbage.
The ICG station at Vizhinjam also organised a human chain to raise awareness among the public to preserve the biologically-rich marine environment.
The human chain was formed to raise concern on the increase of ocean pollution and the main aim was to preserve the biologically rich marine environment and to promote the Indian Coast Guard’s initiative of ‘Swachh Sagara Surakshit Sagara’, a Defense release said.
It said all the officers and men of station and units under command along with Uday Samudra group, fire fighting department’s Vizhinjam team and local Councillor along with his team participated in the drive and collected nearly 150 kg of marine waste/garbage.
ICG Station Commander, Commandant G Sreekumar, expressed thanks to all the team members who joined the cleanup drive.
There was nearly 150 kg of marine waste/garbage collected by the participants. The drive symbolises the highest commitment of all officers and men towards Coast Guard mandated roles in sync with its motto “Vayam Rakshamah” (We Protect), Mr. Sreekumar said.
Also Read: Volunteers Take Part In Beach Clean Up Drive In Vizag To Mark World Ocean Day
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NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – theLGBTQ population,indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the currentCOVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water,SanitationandHygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fightmalnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health,adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues likeair pollution,waste management,plastic ban,manual scavengingand sanitation workers andmenstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India wheretoiletsare used andopen defecation free (ODF)status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched byPrime Minister Narendra Modiin 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.
