A 500-meter stretch of Kollam beach turned near pristine on Friday, thanks to 68 WWF India volunteers who collected bulks of litter strewn all over the sand. As part of the clean-up drive organised in connection with the 3rd anniversary celebrations of WWF India Volunteers Programme, 15 big gunny bags full of garbage was removed from the place that was later handed over to Kollam municipal corporation for proper disposal.
As part of the drive the volunteers were divided into seven groups and asked to collect a particular category of waste. "The waste was collected in a segregated manner thin plastic carry bags, thermocol cups, hard plastics including ice cream cups and spoons, paper waste, clothes, chappals, glass bottles and plastic bottles," said the organisers.
The volunteers collected 22 kg of thin plastic, 13 kg of ice cream cups, 2 kg of thermocol along with 111 kg of glass bottles.
Major pollutant
“The paper waste weighing 16 kg is a major pollutant, though less harmful than all the plastics. The abandoned clothes and chappals which were washed ashore weighed 49 kg and is a serious threat to marine life. It is very evident that the beach is being used by anti-socials during the night as we collected a whopping 111 kg of liquor bottles,” they said.
The clean-up drive was followed by a discussion session attended by A.K. Sivakumar, Senior Education Officer, WWF-India, Jishnu R., Manoj and Kannan Nair of Quilon Beach Hotel.
WWF-India representatives said that a major initiative will be planned within a couple of months in consultation with all the stakeholders. “This beach clean-up campaign and litter analysis on WWF Volunteer Day is in continuation to the ECHO (Building Environment Conservation Heroes) under its Volunteer Engagement Programme in selected colleges in Kollam District. WWF and Kollam Municipal Corporation will work together on such joint initiatives in the future also,” said Renjan Mathew Varghese, State Director.
The clean-up drive was organised in association with Kollam Municipal Corporation and the Quilon Beach Hotel.
