Sri Vijaya Puram, Sept. 21: The Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) 2026 campaign commenced across all 9 Blocks of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands on Sept. 17 with the Swachhata Pledge, followed by cleanliness and sanitation activities with active participation of communities, PRIs, students, sanitary workers and Government officials.
As part of the International Coastal Clean-up Day (ICCD) initiative, coastal cleanliness drives were conducted on Sept. 19 at six rural beaches viz. Rangachang, Radhanagar, Laxmanpur, Kalapathar, Burmanallah and Anderson Island, selected from the 110 beaches identified by the Ministry for coastal cleanup activities.
At Rangachang Beach, the programme was led by Dr. Apurva Sharma, Director (RD), in the presence of the Director (Power), BDO and Pradhan. The programme commenced with the Swachhata Pledge, followed by a community-led beach cleaning drive.
Approx. of 600 participants took part in the cleanup activities across the six beaches, demonstrating strong community participation and commitment towards protecting the coastal environment.
The five drives collectively resulted in the collection of 1,999.5 kg (approximately 2 tonnes) of waste, comprising plastic, glass, metal, paper/cardboard, MLP, tetra packs, mixed waste and other waste categories.
As part of the green initiative under SHS 2026, the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ plantation drive was also conducted at the newly developed Eco-Friendly Park with the participation of dignitaries, PRI representatives and local residents.