Port Blair, Dec 19: In accordance with the guidelines issued by Government of India, ICAR-CIARI is observing Swachhta Pakhwada from 16th to 31st of this month. Various activities viz. tree seedling planting, cleaning of office & residential premises, cleanliness drive in villages & tourist spots, organic waste management, awareness rally and competition for school children are being organized. Earlier on 16.12.2018, all the staff of the Institute took swachhta pledge and planted 50 tree saplings in the campus. On 17.12.2018, office premises were cleaned and old files were sorted out. On 18.12.2018, the residential colony inside the campus was cleaned.
As a part of the fourth day’s programme, an awareness-cum-cleanliness drive has been conducted on 19.12.2018 at Ferrargunj, one of the villages adopted by the Institute under the “Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav” programme. Shri Muneshwaran, Pradhan and Smt. Lakshmi Mandal, Ward Member of Ferrargunj Gram Panchayat participated and felicitated the programme.
At the outset, Dr. I. Jaisankar, Co-Nodal Officer welcomed the participants and explained about the objectives of the programme. Shri Muneshwaran, Pradhan of Ferrargunj Gram Panchayat appreciated the agricultural extension activities of CIARI and its KVK, South Andaman in the field of agriculture, animal husbandry and fisheries which are benefiting the farmers of his panchayat. He thanked the Director, CIARI for choosing Ferrargunj for the conduct of this programme. In turn, Dr. Nagesh Ram, Senior Scientist & Head, KVK, South Andaman thanked Pradhan for giving the opportunity to showcase the activities of the Institute and conduct of the Swachhta Pakhwada programme in their area. Dr. A. Kundu, Director, CIARI in his presidential address, observed that Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by our Hon’ble Prime Minister in 2014 has greatly sensitized the people about the importance of keeping their surroundings clean. He raised concern over the harmful effects of plastic bags to the cattle which are consuming them and urged for their proper disposal. He further called upon the farmers to utilize the Kisan Mela and other extension programmes conducted by the Institute to incorporate improved technologies in their farming practices and give feedback for their further refinement.
Later, the participants went on an awareness rally in Bengali Basti and cleaned the area along with the residents. In all, 50 residents and 100 staff participated in the programme coordinated by Dr. Nagesh Ram, Dr. R. Jaya Kumaravaradan, Dr. L.B. Singh and Dr. N.C. Choudhuri.
