New Delhi: The Ministry of Enviornment, Forests and Climate Change has planned a special one-month long drive to clean the Mahanadi river front and some selected sea beaches in Odisha.
Accordingly, it has picked Puri and Paradip beaches for the special drive. The ministry also aims to make these beaches and the river front plastic-free. Besides, it would award schools which work for making their campuses plastic-free.
Meanwhile, the ministry has also picked Bhubaneswar among five cities in the country for holding mini marathons to create awareness among the masses about plastic pollution.
The special drive has been planned in the light of World Environment Day 2018 on June 5.
The ministry has formed 19 teams to execute the works. The teams would include senior officers from the ministry, state nodal agencies, in-charge of eco-clubs of schools, State Pollution Control Boards, district administrations, colleges of fisheries located along the coastal stretches and other educational/research institutions. An amount of Rs 10 lakh has been earmarked for each stretch of beach, river front and lake. Cleaning up around important archaeological sites will also be taken up. The clean-up activities have started from May 15 and will conclude on June 5.
