VASCO
The International Coastal Clean-up Day, a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) initiative, was coordinated and conducted by Indian Coast Guard on Saturday.
Every year this event is held in September and is the world’s largest one-day voluntary effort to clean the
beaches.
The event was conducted concurrently on the various North and South beaches of the State from 8.30 am onwards wherein Coast Guard personnel, hotel staff, village panchayats and enthusiastic volunteers joined hands for the noble cause and cleaned the beaches.
The motto of the event being ‘Safe & Clean Beaches”, the objective of the programme was to spread awareness amongst the public, especially the younger generation, about the impact of coastal pollution and necessity of coastal clean-up.
The main event was held at Bogmalo beach where DIG Himanshu Nautiyal, Commander Coast Guard Goa, flagged off the drive for Coast Guard personnel and their families, CISF personnel, Goa Coastal Police personnel and enthusiastic volunteers, including children.
Speaking on the occasion Nautiyal complimented all the people who had volunteered for this noble cause. He said that on this day the beaches around the world are cleaned on volunteer basis in an organized way.
“This event will inspire and motivate people to keep the beaches clean and bring about awareness amongst the general populace on the importance of cleanliness in public places, In Goa, the drive is significant because of the State’s coveted tourist destination tag,” he said.
The event was supported by hotels like Bogmalo Beach Resort, Goa Marriot, Vivanta By Taj, Fort Aguada, Ramada Caravela, Taj Exotica Resort, Kenilworth Resort, Park Hyatt, Club Mahindra, Heritage Village Club, Baywatch Resort, Cidade-de-Goa Resort, Alila Diwa Goa and
Bloom Suites.
“The major beaches covered in this event were Bogmalo, Miramar, Sinquerim, Arossim, Vainguinim, Varca, Benaulim, Uttorda and Majorda,” Nautiyal said.
