The School of Environmental Sciences at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, observed International Coastal Clean-Up Day on September 21 with a clean-up activity at Alleppey beach. This programme serves as a prelude to the University’s upcoming campaign to phase out single-use plastics on campus.

A team of 30 volunteers, including MSc students, PhD scholars, staff, and faculty members from the School of Environmental Sciences, participated alongside volunteers from Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Amritapuri, Kollam.

Dr. Mahesh Mohan, Director of the School of Environmental Sciences; Dr. E.V. Ramasamy, Professor of Eminence; Muhammed Kunji, Assistant Co-ordinator of Alappuzha district Suchitwa Mission; and Dr. Joice K. Joseph addressed the volunteers during the inaugural session.

The volunteers cleaned a 100-metre stretch of the beach in about an hour, with the collected trash handed over to the Alappuzha Municipality team for further processing. An awareness rally was also conducted, during which pamphlets highlighting the importance of coastal cleanliness were distributed.

The National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), Chennai, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India, organised the Coastal Clean Seas campaign. Dr. S.R. Marigoudar, Scientist, served as the coordinator from NCCR, while Dr. E.V. Ramasamy and Dr. Mahesh Mohan coordinated the initiative from Mahatma Gandhi University.