District officials team up to clean coast

Visakhapatnam: District officials join hands to convey the message that each individual could play a part in keeping the coast clean. On Sunday, officials from various departments came together to take part in 'Sagara Teera Swachhta'.

Speaking on the occasion, District Collector A Mallikarjuna said it is the responsibility of the people and department officials to keep the coasts litter-free. Along with district officials, the cleanup drive was participated by NGO representatives, students and volunteers. Sagara teera swachhta is a drive wherein officials team up on the first Sunday of every month for the cleanup campaign.

Also, the stress was on shunning single use plastic supplies and creating awareness about the same among tourists and locals. Joint Collector KS Viswanathan, DFO Anant Shankar, GVMC officials, among others, extended support to the drive.

Meanwhile, Eastern Naval Command (ENC) organised a beach cleanup drive at Yarada and Mangamaripeta. Focusing on the theme 'swachh sagar, surakshit sagar', over 100 naval personnel took part in the drive that commenced with a health walk which was flagged off by Rear Admiral Manish Sharma, Chief Staff Officer (Operations), ENC.

Coast Guard conducted a cleanliness drive involving 430 personnel from various afloat and ashore units. As a part of it, the personnel picked up plastics, rags, non-biodegradable waste and cleared a part of the coast in coordination with the GVMC officials.