CHENNAI : The distant cuckooing of the birds in the Pallikaranai Marshland echoed with the slogans of inspiration and the cheers of celebration. “I am not tired; instead I am happy that I did something to spread awareness for the preservation of the environment,” said eight-year-old Thaaragai after covering a 15-km cycling rally.
Thaaragai collected 700 kg of plastic along with her father and scuba diving instructor Aravind. There were many of their ilk — like bank employee Kanal Sundaram, who cycles regularly and plants saplings wherever he goes — present at the cycle rally ‘Rally on Wheels’, held at Pallikaranai Marshland Eco Park on June 4.
The celebration transformed into a morning of speeches punctuated by exuberant applause, hopeful slogans, and introspective thoughts. The Ministry of Tourism collaborated with Prakruthi, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Guru Nanak College, and other sponsors to organise the event.
“We aim for sustainability to be a central part of our lives. It is good to celebrate World Environment Day but it is critical to have an environment that lasts forever. The message is to keep the environment in the heart of our lives,” said Sugato Dutt, retired forest officer.
Concurring, Priyadarshi, district forest officer, shared, “This programme is conducted to spread awareness against the disturbing rate of pollution the city is emitting. When we are going with a message, a few people might react and take up some action and that will be our victory.”
Vinod Gandhi, state deputy secretary, DMK Environment Wing, flagged off the event and MLA JMH Aassan Maulana along with regional director-south, Ministry of Tourism, Mohammed Farouk, felicitated the participants with certificates. Speaking about the measures we should take up for sustainable development, Maulana advised, “We have to start accepting that we have to live closely with mother nature. We should look into things and check how we can do all things sensibly. Sometimes, planting trees is not the solution. There are trees which need almost eighty litres of water every day. We cannot plant those and think that we have done enough for our environment. Instead, as messengers of sustainable development, we have to follow a more scientific approach. The methods we adopt should fit the city.”
The rally witnessed the participation of kids, senior citizens, people with disabilities and government off icials for the cause. Smitha Sadasivan, member of National Committee for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities said, “We participated in the rally to request the officials to make toilets accessible for everyone, especially our community.”