Port Blair, Feb 16: The third "Samir Acharya Memorial Award function for Conservation of Coastal and Island Ecosystems" was organised today at Bageecha – an Andaman Chronicle initiative, by the family of Late Samir Acharya. This year the award was bagged by Ms. Garima Poonia who runs an NGO in the name of Kachrewale.  

The award was presented by Smti. Geetanjali Acharya to Ms. Garima Poonia in the presence of Shri. Farookh Alam, Shri. Meherzaad, Smti. Susan and Smti. Pushpanjali Raju.

Late Samir Acharya had founded the Society for Andaman & Nicobar Ecology (SANE) and was a renowned environmentalist who dedicated his entire life to the Islands. He was instrumental in the Supreme Court Order of 2002 on the ban of sea sand mining, ban of deforestation and ban on influx of non-islanders.

He was awarded the Earth Hero title for his fight to protect the indigenous communities and one of his greatest achievements was the ban on introduction of exotic fish species to the islands.

This year’s recipient of the award Garima Poonia is popular for her NGO Kachrewale. She has been living in Shaheed Dweep for the last few years, although she hails from Rajasthan. Garima has been working tirelessly to keep the oceans clean and free of plastics & garbage. She was chosen for the award as though she is a non-islander, yet her heart beats for the Islands and she has left her family back in the mainland to be here to just keep our Islands and ocean clean.

The ceremony was conducted by Samhita Veda Acharya, daughter of late Shri. Samir Acharya and Denis Giles, the Editor of Andaman Chronicle who is also a disciple of Samir Acharya and had been a part of the Society for Andaman & Nicobar Ecology.