Saving the beach

The students and members of WWF collected ten sacks of waste from  Shanghumugham beach 
The students of Holy Angels School in the capital
The students of Holy Angels School in the capital

KOCHI: The Shanghumugham beach had a different set of visitors on Monday morning. Wearing a pair of glouses and caps, a group of youngsters, armed with empty gunny sacks were cleaning, the beach. The drive, initiated by Kerala State Biodiversity Board, saw the participation of students from Holy Angels, All Saints College and the WWF. The objective was to create more awareness on the need to conserve biodiversity. 


The members of the Holy Angels school’s Eco Club who participated in the drive found it to be a different experience.  Sreelatha, co-ordinator, Students Endeavour for Environment and Nature Sustainability said, “We started cleaning the beach by 7.30 am. Though the crowd was small at the time, there was a lot of plastic waste strewed around.”


The team collected ten full sacks of waste. Talking of the need to create more awareness on biodiversity conservation, Sreelatha said, “The ocean is also home to diverse number of fish and other organisms. The garbage we dump on the beach will affect the badly.”


Dr K G Ajithkumar, senior programme coordinator, Kerala State Biodiversity Board, said the beach is a destination highly frequented by tourists, including foreigners.


However, he said there is a general awareness among the people to keep their surroundings clean. 
While the waste collected through the drive will be handed over to the corporation, the Biodiversity Board plans to continue the efforts. “We plan to set up boards on the beach requesting people not to dump waste. We also believe that seeing school students picking up waste and cleaning the surroundings will encourage the public to abstain from throwing waste,” Ajithkumar said.

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