One lakh people will take pledge against plastic waste during the launching ceremony of MAP -Mass Action for Plastic waste-free Kozhikode, a project meant to make Kozhikode a plastic waste-free district, on the beach here on Saturday.
District collector P.B. Salim, who announced this here in a release issued on Thursday, said that historian M.G. S. Narayanan would deliver Gandhi commemorative speech at the function that start at 9 a.m. on Saturday, which falls on Gandhi Jayanthi Day.
Film actors Suresh Gopi and Lakshmi Gopalaswami would be some of the stars at the function. The project envisaged to complete in five phases will be realised with the help and cooperation of educational institutes, local bodies, Kudumbasree units, local libraries, cultural organisations, clubs and NGOs working in the district.
The district administration in association with the department of information and public relations and the education department has made elaborate preparations to fulfil the project effectively. Sensitization campaigns among student communities as well as the general public have also been planned to drive home the message against plastic waste.
The entire students from schools in the corporation limits, selected representatives of students from schools outside the corporation limits, besides teachers and cultural leaders from the district will participate in the launching ceremony of the project.
Screening of documentaries, dance and music programme by lyricist Kaidapram Damodaran Namboothiri and talks by environmentalists and cultural leaders will be some of the major attraction of the launch ceremony.
A 16-foot sculpture made out of different types of plastic wastes by 10 sculptors at the beach will also be unveiled during the function. The first phase of MAP comprises large scale awareness and sensitisation programme, mainly aimed at students of various educational institutions, including 1,500 schools and nearly 50 colleges in the district. “Resource Recovery Centres to collect plastic waste will be set up in all schools in the first phase,” said Mr. Salim. Plastic waste will be collected from the schools in a vehicle on a weekly basis.
Minister of State for home affairs Mullappalli Ramachandran, State Industries Minister Elamaram Karim, M.K. Raghavan MP, V.R. Krishna Iyer, environmentalists A. Achuthan, T. Sobeendran, script writer T.A. Razak and leaders from socio-political front among others will attend the function.
