Port Blair, Oct 03: As part of ‘Swachhta Hi Sewa’ campaign, the Indian Coast Guard was actively involved in massive cleanliness drive. The campaign took off with beach cleanship drive on 16 Sep 2017 by all the Coast Guard units in A & N Islands, wherein the various Govt departments, NGOs, students from schools and colleges including NCC cadets apart from the local populace actively participated. This drive was successful in generating awareness amongst the masses for keeping the beaches clean and on the importance of ‘preserving and protecting the marine environment of these pristine Islands.
Furthering the ‘Swachhta Hi Sewa’ campaign, all the Coast Guard units, as part of regular activity, undertook cleanliness of respective areas in order to make them free from any trash. The Coast Guard families actively participated in the activities undertaken in the residential areas.
Special ‘Community Interaction Programmes’ for the fishing community were also conducted by the Indian Coast Guard at various fishing hamlets at Diglipur, Mayabunder, Hut Bay, Campbell Bay, Baratang, Chouldari and Wandoor wherein fishermen were sensitised about various government flagship programs including Swachta mission. These interactions by Coast Guard were a huge success and witnessed massive participation by the fishing community.
A special Cleanship Shramdan was also organized on 23 Sep 17 in and around the Coast Guard areas, including tree plantation by the Coast Guard personnel. Cleanliness drive at various public places was also undertaken by Coast Guard personnel to generate awareness on cleanliness.
This fortnightly campaign ‘Swachhta Hi Sewa’ by Indian Coast Guard at Port Blair culminated with an aggressive coastal cleanup drive at Junglighat from 0700 hrs to 0900hrs on 02 Oct 2017. More than 300 Coast Guard personnel whole heartedly got themselves involved in removing the debris from sea front encompassing plastic materials, thermocoals, glass bottles, nets and other waste products. A tree plantation was also concurrently undertaken at Junglighat. Approx 600 kgs of waste was collected from the shore line. The other coast guard units at A & N Islands also undertook similar cleanliness drive in other islands in coordination with local communities on this occasion.
The PRO of Coast Guard has intimated that during the entire 15 days ‘Swachhta Hi Sewa’ campaign, Coast Guard was successful in mobilising thousands of volunteers to participate in shoreline cleaning at more than 25 beaches across A & N Islands and planting hundreds of saplings. He added that the campaign has not only facilitated mobilizing Coast Guard personnel in keeping all the Coast Guard bases more cleaner and greener but it has also provided an opportunity to generate awareness among the masses in keeping these pristine islands ‘Clean and Green’.
