Major clean-up drive in the city on Saturday

The ICC Day, which was launched 30 years ago by the Ocean Conservancy, USA, was launched in India in 2009 with 4,500 volunteers by the IMF Chennai Branch. Admiral K R Srinivasan, Vice President of Indian Maritime Foundation and National Coordinator for the International Coastal Cleanup, said, “This cleanup is organised by Ocean Conservancy USA across the world. It is a volunteer-driven program and so far, we have 8,000 dedicated volunteers who will clean up the beach and other waterbodies on September 17. Each organisation, NGO or education institution, which has chosen to volunteer, will be allocated a distance of 4-8 kms, which they have to clean.” The aim, said Admiral Srinivasan, was to find an effective solution to discard the waste collected. 

In 2009, only 25 blocks (each block consists of 4-8 kms of coast) were covered and 48 tonnes were removed. Last year, 65 blocks were covered and 38 tonnes of trash were collected. “ In 2015, about 35 per cent of the trash we collected was plastic. We don’t want to massive amount of waste collected to end up in the dump yards. That doesn’t make sense. We are looking for a way to recycle/dispose the collected trash within the vicinity,” he added. In addition to the clean-up, the volunteers will also help create awareness. “We are planning to educate the local fishing communities to refrain from dirtying the beach. The stretch near Pattinapakkam is in a very bad shape and our priority is to educate the community and bring it to the notice of the officials,” he said. 

The event will be flagged off on September 17, 6.30 am from Gandhi Statue, Marina Beach.