Port Blair, Sept. 18: On 16th Sep 23, the Indian Coast Guard conducted Coastal Cleanup drive at 09 beaches across A&N Islands including major cleanup drives at Radhanagar Beach, Swaraj Dweep and Corbyn’s Cove Beach, Port Blair. The PCCF (A&N) Dr. TS Kumar, IFS graced the occasion as chief guest at Corbyn’s Cove Beach and Inspector General Bhisham Sharma, TM, Commander Coast Guard Region (A&N) was the chief guest at Radhanagar Beach.
The ICC is conducted all around the world on the third Saturday of September every year under the aegis of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme (SACEP) and is in line with the GoI initiative of ‘Swachh Sagar Surakshit Sagar’. The aim of the event was to generate awareness about the importance of keeping our marine environment free from all kinds of pollution, spread awareness about ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’, ban on single use plastic and to generate awareness about environmental issues, viz. deforestation and beach erosion. Personnel from all walks of life including school children, Govt. officials, civil volunteer groups, NGOs, NCC cadets, etc. participated in the event. A total of 3516 volunteers participated in the Coastal Cleanup Drives in the A&N islands.
During the beach cleanup a total of 3430 Kgs of marine garbage including 1195 Kgs of plastic waste was collected by the volunteers thereby restoring the pristine beauty of prominent beaches of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.