Expressnews
In a bid to make Mamallapuram, a shore city and one of the important tourism destinations near Chennai, free of plastic and to create awareness on keeping our sealine clean from Sholinganallur to Mamallapuram, Hand in Hand India, a not-for-profit public charitable trust, organised ‘Plastic Free Ocean – a carnival 2022’ as part of Waves of Change initiative.
During the event, volunteers including school children actively came forward to convey the message of keeping the sea free of plastic with their beautiful art works. Public walls, roads and other places were painted with awareness messages.
The initiative was widely appreciated by tourists who took a vow not to pollute the sea, shore and other areas with plastic and other things.
Plastic Free Ocean art carnival reached out to different sectors of people of all age groups by conducting activities which are participative, interactive, creative and cognitive in nature and enriched them with better understanding of reduce, reuse and recycle concepts.
Rangoli competition based on the ‘Plastic Free Ocean’ theme, Painting competition based on the ‘Plastic Free Ocean’ theme for college and school students and other stakeholders, Waste-to-Art competition for adults and students, Stalls displaying alternatives to Single Use plastics (SUPs), and Stalls selling organic products (Bhumi Pride) and organic food were among the highlights of the campaign.
Mr. Parisutham. V, Vice-President of Hand in Hand India, said, “The project Waves of Change (WoC) is a development initiative launched in August 2020 to create a clean coastline, supported by the Swedish Organizations Postcode Lottery and Keep Sweden Tidy. Hand in Hand India has been implementing Municipal Solid Waste Management projects across India since 2007.”
He added: “Waves of Change is a three-and-a-half-year project focusing on the following outcomes: Reduce plastic waste at sea and on land, through preventive measures and improved plastic and waste management processes; Increased enterprise incomes through creation of green profitable small business, promoting circular economy and reducing plastic pollution; and Increased dissemination and replication of local waste management solutions though inter-border and global sharing and learning platforms.”
The 35-km ECR stretch spanning from Mamallapuram to Sholinganallur along the coastline is the target area to implement the project components. 13 fishermen villages viz. Panniyur Kuppam, Chinna Neelankarai Kuppam, Injambakkam Kuppam, Chinnadi Kuppam, Pattipulam, Nemmeli, Vada Nemmeli, Thiruvidanthai, Kovalam, Muttukadu, Kanathur, Devaneri and Venpurusam lie in this stretch with a total of 8,555 households.
