District Coast Guard organises clean-up drive along state’s coast

Mangaluru: The Coast Guard District (Karnataka) Headquarters, under the aegis of South Asian Cooperative Environment Programme (SACEP), organised a coastal clean-up programme at the Panambur, Tannirbhavi, Surathkal, Sasihithlu, Malpe, Rabindranath Tagore, Baithkol and Kodibagh beaches along Karnataka’s coast on Saturday, September 21.

The Coast Guard was joined by the Coastal Security Police, Indigo Airlines, Mangaluru, Par Eco Solutions Mangaluru, New Mangalore Port Trust, Central Industrial Security Force, MRPL, Rotary Club Mangalore, college students, NCC Cadets, NSS volunteers and enthusiastic volunteers from all walks of life, in association with the Coast Guard Wives Welfare Association New Mangalore.

Educational institutes like Kasturba Medical College, St Agnes (Autonomous) College, AJ Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Law College Mangaluru, MV Shetty College, MSNM Besant Institution, Kendriya Vidyalaya No.1 Mangalore, College of Fisheries Mangalore, NITK Suratkal, Vaikunta Baliga Law College Udupi, Bharat School Scouts Udupi, Poorna Prajna Evening College Udupi, Govt PU College Malpe, Milagres PU College Kallianpur, Malpe and G Shankar PU College, Kidiyoor were prominent participants at the event.

The event was supported by MRPL, KIOCL, ISPRL, Bharat Petroleum, Adani, Nandini, SBI, Corporation Bank, Bank of Baroda, BASF India Pvt Ltd, SPAR Hypermarket, Global Marine and ICICI Bank.

Abhigin B, Assistant Commissioner Uttara Kannada District and Managing Director Grasim Industries at Karwar led the volunteers at Tagore beach.

M V Subba Rao, CMD KIOCL, Dr. G V Hegde, MD KMF, Shri Ashwin BPCL, Archana Sachit, Indigo Mangaluru, Jathin Allyal, President Rotary Club Mangalore, Vishnu, Branch Manager, ICICI, Krishna, Branch Manager, SBI were the dignitaries at Panambur.

G Jagadheesh, Udupi district Deputy Commissioner, R Chetan, SP, CSP, Udupi, Nisha James, SP, Udupi, Kumar Chandra Additional SP, Udupi, Anand C Kalolika Municipal Commissioner were the prominent guests at Malpe.

Prof K Umamaheshwar Rao, Director, NITK Surathkal led volunteers at Surathkal Beach. Dr. SenthilVel, Dean (Fisheries) led the volunteers at Tannirbhavi beach.

The Commander Coast Guard Karnataka, DIG SS Dasila, TM, who was present at Panambur beach during the cleanliness drive, said, “We all need to serve as a voice for the ocean and work towards a trash-free ocean. We can really make a difference and help others do the same by empowering people to take an active role in the preservation and cleaning of our oceans. Let’s all be a part of the smart ocean planning to avoid the risk of conflict and crises of our vulnerable water bodies. We all need to join together for the future of the oceans.”

All participants were provided with gash bags and protective gloves to use during the cleaning process. The feeling of ecstasy and camaraderie was evident amongst the groups of various ages, professions and organizations.

The waste materials picked up by the volunteers mainly consisted of wrapping material and plastic bottles discarded by the visitors. The waste materials collected were put in garbage bags for proper disposal.