NUAPADA: In a remarkable display of community-driven environmental action, Nuapada district organised one of the country’s largest cleanliness-cum-plantation drives in its commitment to sustainability and plastic-free living on Tuesday.
The two-hour campaign, conducted across 3,214 locations during a two hour window, saw participation of over 1.42 lakh people, making it a landmark event in India’s ongoing efforts to eliminate single-use plastic.
Led by collector Madhusudan Das, the district tackled over 3,200 garbage vulnerable points, collected 32.52 tonnes of plastic waste and planted more than 1.02 lakh saplings.
The initiative was part of a month-long campaign following Nuapada’s recognition as the first district in Odisha and sixth in India to be declared single-use plastic (SUP) free. It achieved this milestone on World Environment Day earlier this year.
The campaign saw participation from all sections of society, including government departments, schools, self-help groups (SHGs), legal bodies, hospitals, business associations, NGOs, and religious organisations. A 12-member UNICEF team led by state WASH specialist Sipra Saxena was also present during the campaign.
Collector Das termed the cleanliness campaign as a public movement towards a cleaner, greener, and plastic-free Nuapada. “We aim for maximum sensitisation with minimum enforcement,” he said.
Senior officials including DFO Azeez Khan, district legal services authority secretary Navneeta Das and Nuapada SP GR Raghavendra oversaw the plantation activities, awareness programmes, and cleanliness drives.
The single-use plastic-free declaration came alongside the launch of a month-long intensive drive involving over 700 cleanliness campaigns, operationalisation of plastic waste management units, plantation of one lakh trees, and creation of green buffer zones.