THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Nearly 316 kg of waste was collected from Veli beach including glass 72kg, legacy waste 57kg, single use plastic waste 121kg and recyclable plastic waste 66kg during the mega beach cleaning drive organised by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), in association with the Directorate of Environment and Climate Change here on Sunday.
Along with Veli, cleaning drives were held at Alappuzha and Fort Kochi. The segregated waste from Veli beach was handed over to the authorized agencies for proper treatment and for appropriate management measures specified in the waste management rules.
The State Nodal Officer P.Kalaiarasan welcomed the volunteers who took part in the drive. Members of BhoomithraSena Clubs of Environment Department, Coastal Guards, GIZ officials, representatives from MoEFCC, NCSCM, Govt of India, various department officials, Sustera Foundation, Green Worms, Clean Hub, NGO’s, and common public actively participated in the cleaning drive.
The instructions on collection of waste and its segregation were given to volunteers and the beach cleanup commenced at 7 am. The drive concluded by 9.30 am. Officials with the Thiruvanathapuram district administration were present at the event.