Slogans like ‘Earth without ozone is like a house without roof’, ‘Ozone, not just a layer but a protector’ screamed from the colourful canvas painted by the students. Many such thought-provoking images, slogans and speeches were presented by more than 200 students who participated in the poster design and elocution competitions organised by The Hindu and Essar Foundation on the occasion of World Ozone Day on Saturday. The event was held on the theme ‘Caring for all life under the sun’ at Visakha Public Library.
Rahul Pandey, Chief Conservator of Forests, Visakhapatnam, who was chief guest of the event, spoke about the importance of the World Ozone Day and the 30th anniversary of the Montreal Protocol being commemorated this year. Sharing his views on climate change, he said that global warming has resulted in the rising of sea water levels. “Coastal cities are most susceptible to the effect of rising sea water levels,” he said. Urging the students to contribute their bit for the environment with controlled uses of ozone depleting substances, he said, “We can all make a small contribution in protecting the ozone layer by reducing the number of hours of usage of air-conditioners at home.”
Applauding the efforts of the students in highlighting the issues relating to depleting ozone and its effect on the environment, K. Bhakthavatsalam, COO of Essar Steel, said that the World Ozone Day was being celebrated to observe the major accomplishments of the Montreal Protocol in protecting the ozone layer and the climate, to increase public recognition of the success and impact of the Protocol. He said that Essar has so far planted over 84,000 saplings in the city and urged the students to participate in plantation drives and nurture the green zones in the city.
The elocution competition that was judged by Prof. Bobby Vardhan and Prof. D.V.R. Murthy of Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, AU, saw some spirited speeches by students. The poster design contest was judged by artist K. Ravi.
List of winners
In the senior category, the top three prize winners in the poster design contest were G. Nanditha (Chaitanya Public Scjool), T.B.B. Madhavan (DAV School, Butchirajupalem) and Ch. Sai Sunil Abhiram (Chaitanya Public School).
In the junior category for the poster design contest, the first three prizes were bagged by M. Bhavani (Key Stone English Medium School), V.S. Tarun Aditya and C. Sampath (Delhi Public School). The consolation prize winners in senior and junior categories were P. Eswal Satya Prasad (DAV School), P. Yogyatha (Sristi World School), K. Pavan Upendra (Chaitanya Public School) and N. Gnanendra (Sristi World School).
In the elocution competition, the first prize was bagged by C. Raghavi (Little Angels School). Thushika (Timpany High School) and S. Yohitha (Ramakrishna High School) bagged the second and third prizes respectively.
R. Nirupama (Little Angels School) and Likhitha Sai (V.T. High School) were the consolation prize winners.