Plogging, a novel initiative of picking up litter while jogging in groups, has received good response among the residents of Tiruchi.
It was not just dignitaries, who had turned up on the northern end of Cauvery bridge to take part in plogging but also residents of Tiruchi, who had demonstrated their eagerness of partnering with the Tiruchi Corporation in keeping their surroundings neat and clean.
They thronged in large number to collect litter while jogging on Sunday.
To the surprise of organisers, accepting the call given by the Tiruchi City Corporation more than 1,200 citizens, including women, turned up at dawn on Sunday to take part in plogging on Cauvery bridge, where a large number of residents of Periyar Nagar, Ganapathy Nagar, Mambalasalai and Mela Chinthamani go on their morning walks.
After a small function to kick start the initiative, they began jogging in groups across the Cauvery and collected trash, abandoned cloths, plastic waste and others. Wearing gloves and collection bags, the participants cleared the litter strewn on the river.
Collector K. Rajamani, Commissioner of Police, Tiruchi city, A. Amalraj, Corporation Commissioner N. Ravichandran and Dean, K.A.P. Viswanatham Government Medical College, Anitha, were among the early birds to take part in the exercise. Accepting the invitation, music composer James Vasanthan, who is Tiruchi's Swachh Bharat brand ambassador, too flew down from Chennai to join the ploggers. Elected representatives of Tiruchi, including Vellamandi N. Natarajan, Tourism Minister S. Valarmathi, Backward Classes and Minority Welfare Minister, P. Kumar, Member of Parliament, also visited the spot later and cleared garbage. Members of various welfare associations and flat dwellers associations also made their presence felt by actively taking part in the initiative.
“When plogging we do not feel bored as we jog in groups and bend ourselves to pick up trash. I feel it is a best exercise not just to burn calories but also to service the society at least in a small way. It should be institutionalised,” said K. Rajamani, who flagged off the Tiruchi plogging initiative.
Corporation Commissioner Ravichandran said that the initiative had received an overwhelming response from the citizens. About 10,000 citizens had registered for plogging. Several of them took part in different parts of the city. Active groups would be identified so as to make the initiative a movement, he added.
