KOLLAM: The boat journey was not just a voyage to kill time. But it was also a novel effort to create awareness among the youngsters about the challenges they would face from the pollution that has left Ashtamudi kayal filled with muck.
About 30 students were taken for a boat ride through the backwaters by the ‘8 Point Art Cafe’ as part of training the new generation to fight pollution, Cafe curator Shenley told Express.
The students’ team included a member as young as the three-year-old Akshay, who enjoyed to the hilt the trip. The trip began with poet Kuripuzha Sreekumar rendering his poem ‘Ishtamudi’ dedicated to the lake Ashtamudi.
They were taken on a an hour long trip in a house boat through the banks of the lake, Shenley said.
The trip offered the students a first-hand experience of the lake’s pitiable condition and the gravity of the situation. They were shown the dwindling area of mangrove forests and shrinking banks of the river as well. “The children were more shocked to find countless number of plastic waste strewn on the lake,” said Shenley.
After returning to the Cafe, they were given a chance to express their impressions about the polluted lake through drawing.
“We hope that catching the young minds will make some impact in controlling pollution. It has become futile telling the elders about it as things remain unchanged,” he said.
“We plan to display the paintings and drawing of the children at the cafe in the coming days,” he said.
The poet Sreekumar also inaugurated the paintings of Anil Ashtamudy, Salim Babu, Radhakrishnan, Levi Ravikumar, N S Mony, Baiju Punukannur, Sylendra Babu and Shyam Lal on a 10X10 board, highlighting the pollution of the lake.