BENGALURU: On the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, about 8,000 citizens got together and collected a total of 7.5 tonnes of waste in 43 locations across the city.
Plogging comes from the Swedish word ‘plocka upp’, which means combining jogging with picking up plastic waste. The citizens gathered at Jayaram Colony in Mathikere at 7am on Wednesday, and the event was flagged off by DR CN Aswathnarayan, Deputy Chief Minister. Ramana Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary to the Government, Urban Development Department (UDD); B H Anil Kumar, BBMP Commissioner; Justice Subhash Adi, Chairman NGT-State Level Committee and Ramakrishna Ganesh, convener, India Plog Run, were also present at the event.
People of all ages were seen plogging in various locations such as Koramangala, Marathahalli, MG Road, Banashankari, Electronics City, RT Nagar, Chamrajpet, Iblur, Seegehalli, Whitefield, Puttenahalli, Dasarahalli, Ranka Colony, Hoodi Circle and Majestic. A total of 1,773 bags were filled with garbage. Puttenhalli had the most waste - 1,200 kgs.
Nagaraj, known as the ‘plog man of Bengaluru’, said, “It was great so seeing many people taking part, even on their holiday. The city’s plogger army is growing.”
Eight-year-old Shreya V, who was plogging in RT Nagar, said, “It was sad to see so much waste lying around the city.”
During the first plog run last year, the waste collected was 32 tonnes, with 8,000 people participating, setting a Guinness World Record. This time, the amount of plastic collected had come down. “Last year, we collected waste from many corporates, but this year, we focussed on lakes,” said Ganesh.