Puri sees Odisha’s largest beach clean-up drive

Puri: The Holy Town Puri today saw what could be termed as Odisha’s largest beach clean-up drive to transform its pristine shoreline. Nearly 1,000 volunteers of Shri Sant Janardhan Swami Sanskar Sanstha from Maharashtra have joined hands to remove piles of waste on the 5-km stretch on Puri beach.

Amid occasional rainfall, the volunteers, who were divided into 16 groups having 60 members in each group, spread over Digabareni to Light House and Digabareni to Pink House on the beach to give a makeover to the shoreline.

The 2-hour-long clean-up drive by the volunteers, including women and senior citizens, not only drew eyeballs from the onlookers but made a significant impact on the beach. Plastic cups and bottles, aluminium cans, plastic plates, among the waste materials were removed by the volunteers.

The District Administration has made all the necessary arrangements and provided trash bags, gloves and other cleanup materials to the volunteers who came all the way from Maharashtra to take part in the shoreline cleanup drive in Puri.

“We are very thankful to the volunteers who came from out of the state and cleaned up the entire beach with full of passion and determination amid rains and inclement weather conditions. It is really a praiseworthy action and will sure inspire others to join the drive to keep the beach waste-free,” said Balwant Singh, IAS, Collector, Puri.

The Collector also appeals tourists and people not to throw plastic cups and bottles, aluminium cans on the beach as it will cause an irreversible damage to the whole ecosystem.

The Puri District Administration had launched ‘Mo Beach’ campaign to keep the shoreline clean and beautiful. The District Administration has appealed to local communities, civil society organisations, students, officials, shopkeepers, volunteers and gram panchayats to participate in the Mo Beach drive.

Besides, the Puri beach is the first beach in Asia which has been selected to get the Blue Flag certification, a tag which is given to environment-friendly and clean beaches which are equipped with amenities of international standards for tourists.