Droves of people descended on the city's beaches on Sunday with trash bags and gloves. All along Chennai's coast, from the Marina up to Injambakkam, the white sands were taken over by more than 800 volunteers who were after every little non-biodegradable substance they could find.
The cleanup, which was organised by the Chennai Trekking Club (CTC), saw the participation of a wide range of people, from Corporation conservancy workers and student collectives to NGOs.
“I come to the beach regularly and find it so messy. I just wanted to pitch in and make a small difference,” said Nitin Narayan, one of the volunteers. “I can now come back to the beach in the evening and have fun with a little less guilt,” he added.
Roughly around five tonnes of trash were collected during the drive. Mr. Narayan said: “While we can explore and enjoy what nature has to offer, we also have an obligation to clean up.” “It is nice to be part of the solution for once instead of being part of the problem,” said M. Suprabha, a Class XI student who is part of a student collective that organises weekly cleanups of the Adyar estuary. Though repeated cleanups have not transformed the city's beaches into trash-free zones, she says, one must see some of the ‘before' and ‘after' clean up pictures to understand the impact that small acts can have. G. Paari, one of the organisers, said that though the trekking club organises visits to virgin forests, there are many beautiful spots such as the Adyar estuary that are right within the city. “We must learn to give something back to nature. The plastic that we collected is just a portion of what is out there. Marine ecology is very sensitive to pollution on the beaches.”
