Vizag sets record as 22,000 people take part in beach-cleaning drive
VISAKHAPATNAM: More than 22,000 volunteers lined up at 40 locations along 29 kilometres of the coastal line here on Friday for a mega beach clean-up drive. They collected 76 tonnes of plastic waste and trash, and handed them over to the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) for disposal.
The event could possibly be a world record, which would overshadow Israel’s October 30, 2020 massive drive in which 18,000 people picked up 62 tonnes of garbage from beaches on the Mediterranean coast, the Sea of Galilee and the Red Sea. Representatives of the Wonder Book of Records certified the fete as a world record in beach cleaning drive.
The clean-up of the beach between Naval Coastal Battery and Bheemunipatnam was jointly organised by the GVMC and Parley for the Oceans, a New York-based non-profit. The organisers said 22,157 volunteers participated in the drive.
“India is a great country and freeing it from plastic by making use of available resources is our main aim,” said Cyrill Gutsch, founder of Parley for the Oceans. Various NGOs, residents’ welfare associations, students, personnel from the Eastern Naval Command and their family members, GITAM, NSS volunteers, and employees of the Visakhapatnam Port Trust joined hands with local population to make the cleanliness drive a grand success.
The volunteers were provided gloves and bags to collect thrash. Ministers Gudivada Amarnath, and Adimulapu Suresh, MLA Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar, MLC Varudu Kalyani, District Collector A Mallikarjuna, Mayor Golagani Hari Venkata Kumari, Commissioner of Police Ch Srikanth, GVMC Commissioner G Lakshmisha, Special Chief Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department Y Srilakshmi, Municipal Commissioner Praveen Kumar, NEDCAP Chairman KK Raju, Swachchandra Corporation MD Sampath Kumar, GVMC employees and other offiicials attended the event.