Thousands join anti-plastics marathon in Tirupattur

TIRUPATTUR: More than 4,000 persons, including a group of differently-abled, participated in a marathon organised jointly by the Tirupattur district administration and the State Pollution Control Board on Sunday.

The event was held to create awareness about shunning single-use plastics and popularising yellow bags (manjapai) on Sunday.

Flagged off by Collector D Baskara Pandian, who also ran for about 5 km, before returning to participate in other related programmes in addition to rushing to Natrampalli to participate in the exercise to chase away the two wild elephants. The run saw nearly 600 more participants other than the 3,500 registered members turning up.

The first, second and third prizes for men and women above 15 years were Rs 10,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,500 while for both sexes below 15 years, the prize money were Rs 5,000, Rs 3,000, and Rs 2,000. All were given trophies, certificates, and saplings in addition to yellow bags.

The Collector said trophies and Rs 1,000 were given to two differently-abled participants while an autistic participant from Chennai was awarded a trophy, certificate, and Rs 100 cash.