Hundreds of student members of local school and college Eco Clubs participated in a beach cleaning operation on the International Coastal Cleanup Day on Saturday. The programme was organised jointly by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) and the Beach Protection Council.
SPCB Member-Secretary Debidutt Biswal inaugurated an awareness rally on the occasion and advised students to keep the golden beach clean and pollution-free. He urged the administration to prohibit use of polythene carry bags on the beach.
He said it is a joint responsibility of the Tourism Department and the local civic body to protect the natural beauty and environment of the beach, which is the most preferred tourist destination.
Additional District Magistrate Uddhab Charan Majhi, Director of Centre for Environment Studies Sailabala Padhi, Puri municipality Executive Officer Sanjay Kumar Mishra, Divisional Forest Officer Chittranjan Mishra, Sub-Collector Madhusudan Das, SPCB Regional Officer Hadibandhu Panigrahi and Dillip Srichandan of Prerana NGO participated in the programme, which Beach Protection Council president Jagannath Bastia conducted.