A coastal clean-up exercise was held at Manakkudi near Nagercoil on Sunday to mark India’s election of the G20 president.

Called “My Beach, My Pride”, the exercise was initiated by the Minister of Dairy Development. Mano Thangaraj.

Students from various schools and colleges and volunteers collected and removed several hundred kilograms of discarded waste such as non-biodegradable plastic products and fishing nets. The minister called on the public and tourists visiting the area not to use single-use plastic products. He said, “If you bring non-perishable products into the area, place them carefully in the separate blogs set up for that purpose.” Many environmentally friendly products made from palm and fiber, such as hats, bags, purses, baskets and wallets, are displayed to encourage the public to use them.

Collector P.N. Sridhar, Superintendent of Police Hari Kiran Prasad, District Forest Officer Ilaiyaraja also participated in the river cleaning exercise.

Photo Credit:  jerin_abinow