District Collector A. Mallikarjuna has appealed to the people, employees, volunteers, NGOs, college-going students and visitors to come forward and participate in the Mega Beach Clean-up Campaign, scheduled to be held from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Friday. “This could be the biggest ‘Swachhta’ programme being organised and we are estimating around 25,000 people to take part in it,” he said. The Collector conducted a meeting to review all the arrangements for the beach clean-up programme as well as the Chief Minister’s brief visit on the same day.
The Collector said that district officials have been divided into various groups and were allotted specific roles. Seeking coordination from the officials, he said that the programme should be a grand success.
The State government jointly with US-based ‘Parley for the Oceans’ in association with the GVMC is conducting the clean-up programme. The officials have divided the Naval Coastal Battery (NCB) to Bheemunipatnam beach stretch into 40 areas, where the campaign will be conducted.
Mr. Mallikarjuna asked the officials to ensure all the volunteers reach their designated location half-an-hour before theprogramme. All amenities, including drinking water, buttermilk and medical kits, should be available along the beach stretch for the volunteers and also asked them not to use any plastic items during the programme, he said. He also added that the officials must ensure no minors are taking part in the programme.
CM’s visit
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is scheduled to arrive in Visakhapatnam at 9.50 a.m. on Friday. He would reach AU Convention Centre at Beach Road, where he would take part in a programme to exchange Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the “Parley for the Oceans” to set up a plastic recycling unit. The State government would be allotting land to set up the plant. The plant would receive plastic from not only in and around Visakhapatnam, but across the country. The recycled plastic would be supplied to renowned shoe-manufacturing company.
At 11.15 a.m., he would leave for AU Convocation Hall, where he would take part in another programme involving Microsoft representatives and students. He would issue certificates to students who have completed a training programme under Microsoft. Education Department officials and APSCHE representatives would take part in it.
GVMC Commissioner G. Lakshmisha, Joint Collector K.S. Viswanathan, DRO Srinivasa Murthy and others were present.
‘No plastic please’
Ahead of the Chief Minister’s programme which focusses on plastic eradication, the YSR Congress Party has started to inform their party representatives as well as other leaders to ensure no plastic flexis or banners surface on the city roads.
District YSRCP President and MLA M. Srinivasa Rao, in a release on Wednesday, has requested the party leaders to use only cloth banners/flexis during the CM’s visit.
During the review meeting, District Collector A. Mallikarjuna has also instructed the officials to make sure no plastic items are used during the beach clean-up programme. Meanwhile the GVMC has also passed a message to the corporators not to use any plastic flexis.
During the Chief Minister’s previous visit to take part in a government programme at AU Grounds, the GVMC has come under criticism as scores of plastic banners had surfaced along the Airport- AU route.
