THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: To keep beaches clean and pollution-free, city-based NGO Neerthadakam has launched an ocean conservation initiative in Kovalam. Volunteers of the NGO, Kovalam Janamaithri Police and other social welfare organisations based in Kovalam came together to hold a cleaning drive. They collected trash from the beach, which mostly included plastic.
During the drive which was held a few weeks back, the volunteers collected around 15 sacks of trash comprising polythene bags, ice cream spoons and covers, glass bottles and footwear. Kiran A J, founder of Neerthadakam, said they have been working to conserve Vellayani lake for almost eight years now.
“It was dying a slow death due to continuous dumping of waste and hyacinth. Though many residents were apathetic of the initiative, they also joined us eventually. So, we thought of replicating the same model in Kovalam which has many beautiful beaches. However, due to indiscriminate dumping of plastic waste, the beach is rapidly deteriorating,” he said.
“After seeing the amount of plastic waste that was accumulated, we realised that nearby beaches might also need cleaning. So, we have decided to clean the beaches in Vizhinjam, while doing monthly cleaning of Kovalam beach. Even the parking area in Kovalam was filled with plastic waste,” said Kiran, adding that awareness programmes will also be held for residents and tourists.