To keep the coast clean for the benefit of stakeholders especially fisherfolks, coastal cleanup drive was undertaken at two coastal villages – Mottaigopuram and Vellapatti – on Tuesday. The coastal areas are the lifeline of fisherfolk as the shore houses fish landing centres, where seafood is auctioned, and fishing net mending activities are also taken up there. The programme was organised by Holy Cross Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Thoothukudi through the Environmental Information Dissemination Centre (EIDC) in association with Forest Department and Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute (SDMRI). The student volunteers collected wastes, mostly plastics, which were sent to Thoothukudi Corporation’s solid waste dump near Vellapatti.
A. Sharmila Motha, teacher and coordinator of the Centre, said coastal areas happened to be the dumping areas for various solid wastes including fish waste. Plastic and other solid wastes accumulated on the seashore become lethal to the marine ecosystem. Such wastes deplete the quality of seawater, beach and the dependant biodiversity. They mainly affect the cleanliness of the beach and seawater. Moreover, such wastes obstruct the growth of marine plants important to the coastal ecosystem”, she said.
Selvamathi, a class eight student, who took part in the drive, said “the initiative in cleaning the environment is a small step and it gives us satisfaction in extending our service to coastal community to make their immediate surroundings clean and also spread the message of cleanliness among the coastal people.” J. Antony Varadharaj, fisherman of Mottaigopuram, said similar activities should be continued at regular intervals and coastal people should be repeatedly educated. The initiative should come from the people to keep their environment clean by dumping wastes at appropriate places. Sr. Nirmala, Headmistress of the School, coordinated the programme. A total of 69 students including members of National Cadet Corps, Guides, Red Cross and EIDC, 25 forest staff of Thoothukudi Range of Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park and 20 researchers of SDMRI participated in the cleanup drive, the Headmistress said.
