Odisha Wins The Tag Of Least-Polluted Coastline

Bhubaneswar: Odisha has the least-polluted coastline while sandy beaches of God’s Own Country, Kerala, are paying the price for too much tourism activities.

According to a report of the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), 478 kg of litter was collected from four beaches of Odisha as against 6,804 kg from six beaches of Tamil Nadu, 5,930 kg from three beaches of Maharashtra and a whopping 9,519 kg from five beaches of Kerala in September last year.

“Beaches in big cities with larger population have more garbage. While there are regular cleaning efforts in Goa, beaches in states like Odisha are least polluted,” the report said.

The volunteers, who were part of the exercise conducted by NCCR, picked up a total of 35 tonnes or 2.39 lakh of litter across 34 beaches in the country.

“The major source of litter at 22 beaches is tourism and recreational activities. Plastic and glass were the major type. Plastic waste were cups and bottles, bags, bottle caps and food wrapper,” it further said.

Other types of litter were glass bottles, footwear, tyres, gloves, organic waste, clothes, flowers and coconuts used for religious purposes, it added.

In September 2018, a mega cleanliness drive was organised on Puri beach to mark the International Coastal Cleanup Day. The Puri administration had claimed it to be the world’s largest coastal clean-up drive that aimed at sensitising people about the importance of clean beaches. More than 10,000 volunteers had participated in the drive undertaken along the 140 km coastline from Arakhakuda near Chilika lake to Jahania Pir beach in Astaranga.