CANACONA
Youth from Agonda have begun to collect garbage strewn at several black spots in the coastal village precinct on Thursday, as part of their efforts to make Agonda the cleanest village in the State.
Taking the lead, Estev Rodrigues, Selvin Fernandes, Vincy Fernandes and other youth gathered to pick up garbage from Val-Aframent, Igrejwada, Guravol, Dessiwado and surrounding areas.
“On Thursday, we began our mission by collecting garbage left unattended in Ward 5, which covers 60 per cent of the village coastal area. We also identified black spots in the village,” said Rodrigues, a social activist.
“We residents of Agonda have taken up the challenge to collect material and waste dumped by villagers or tourism stakeholders.”
“Our village has already won accolades as the cleanest village at the national level. Now, we are taking up this challenge to maintain that status and make Agonda even cleaner, as we aim to bag this award every year. We want to keep the ‘Clean Village’ tag flying high in the years to come.”
According to the youth, Ward 5 has been initially taken up for cleaning, given the high concentration of tourism structures.
“The Agonda Panchayat is doing its bit, and is regularly collecting garbage, but some unscrupulous elements among the tourism stakeholders, unfortunately, continue to dump their waste, creating dark spots,” stated another youth.
Rodrigues informed that waste dumps will be cleared from all wards in a phased manner.
“Residents will be advised not to throw their waste in open spaces, but to regularly hand over the waste to the panchayat collection team, or any of the activists,” said Rodrigues, while warning that anyone found throwing their waste in open spaces would be held accountable.
