The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) personnel and some 450 volunteers removed one tonne of litter from Thumba on Sunday during a beach clean-up drive organised as part of International Costal Cleanup Day.
The drive here was organised by the ICG Station (ICGS), Vizhinjam. The volunteers were from the Thumba Parish Church, including 200 children of the Sunday school and their teachers.
They were joined by volunteers from the Trivandrum Social Service Society and the Theradesha Jagratha Samithi.
The litter collected from the 300-metre stretch included tattered fishing nets, discarded liquor bottles, plastic carry bags and cups, and decomposed wood. Commanding Officer, ICG Vizhinjam, Commandant A. Athinarayanan spoke to volunteers of the need to protect the beaches from litter.
Deputy Commandant Sivaprasad S., Commanding Officer, ICGS C-150; parish priest Steanislaus; and secretary Marcos Fernandes spoke.
The volunteers took a pledge against dumping waste/litter on the beaches and to work towards clean beaches.
A Chetak helicopter from the ICG Air Squadron, Kochi, was stationed nearby as a search and rescue standby unit to deal with any eventuality.
The litter collected was taken to the ICGS, Vizhinjam, for disposal.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has identified marine litter as the main thing plaguing oceans/waterways. One of the largest voluntary events in the world, the cleaning drive, is organised to educate and create awareness on the need to protect the sea and the coast. The ICG is the nodal agency which coordinates and conducts the event across the country.
