Chennai, Sep 21 (Representative) The Indian Coast Guard organized a massive coastal cleanup drive along the iconic Marina and Elliots beaches in Chennai on Saturday, coinciding with the International Coastal Cleanup Day. Inspector General of the Coast Guard Region (East) Donny Michael flagged off the cleanup drive at the Marina Beach. He said preserving the marine ecosystem is imperative for the overall wellbeing of all the living beings. He stressed upon the importance of awareness on preventing plastics from reaching the sea asthe marine ecosystem plays a vital role in the human food cycle. The Chief of the Eastern region of the Coast Guard expressed satisfaction over the efforts of the volunteers to clear the debris at the beaches and appreciated the support extended by the Tamil Nadu and Central governments, besides non-government agencies and educational institutions. He said the Indian Coast Guard remains committed to the preservation of marine environment aspart of the basic Charter of Duties entrusted by the Union Government. Mr Donny Michael assured that all the shore stations, units, ships and establishments of the Indian Coast Guard in the Eastern Region would continue to engage and encourage the public in general and the coastal fishing community in particular to contribute towards preserving the coastlines. In the Coastal Cleanup Drive, around 900 volunteers from 20 different schools and colleges, corporate and industrial houses and central and state government agencies participated despitethe morning rains, resulting in the collection of about 450 kg wastes, including plastics from the beaches.
The collected waste were documented by the ICG officials for further analysis so that preventive strategies can be evolved from the data to ensure ingress of minimum waste into oceans in future,a defence release said. The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, the Chennai Port Trust, Central Industrial Security Force CISF, the Tamil Nadu Police, NCC, NSS, industrial houses including the Enfield, NGOs such as the Tree foundation and Born To Win Research Foundationwere among those who participated in the event. The International Coast Guard day is being celebrated on the third Saturday of September everyyear to create awareness about preservation of the oceans and waterways and prevent damageto ecology and environment. With growing population and commercial activity along the coastline, it is reported that the oceanshave become a dumping ground for all types of wastes including plastics. Scientists say, plastics after reaching water bodies do not decompose quickly, but only disintegrateinto smaller particles that infiltrate into the marine ecology, affecting humans by entering into thefoodcycle. As the nodal agency for the coordination of response to any marine pollution, the Indian CoastGuard also actively engages with other government and private stakeholders to ensure conservation and protection of marine environment. Apart from Chennai, similar coastal cleanup drives were also organized by CoastGuard units based at Tuticorin, Mandapam in TN, Puducherry and Karaikal as wellas Visakhapatnam and Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, under the aegis of theHeadquarters, Coast Guard Region East, Chennai.