Plog run to be held after IPL matches to spread awareness in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: With the IPL season in, the vicinity of M Chinnaswamy stadium was dotted with placards, IPL merchandise, papers and plastic in the wee hours of March 29.
Hours after the first late night match in Bengaluru, areas around the stadium including Cubbon Park, the pavement in front of HAL corporate headquarters, MG Road, and Kasturba Road were littered by reveller-fans.

The next IPL match scheduled on April 5 is likely to different. In order to ensure that no muck is left behind by the cricket fans, activists from the Solid Waste Management Round Table (SWMRT) will go plogging at 6.30am on April 6 around the stadium.

Plogging is a combination of jogging and picking up litter along the route. “We will host a plog run to ensure the area around the stadium is clean and also spread awareness among people watching IPL matches in the days to come,” said SWMRT co-founder NS Ramakanth.

According to Ramakanth, pourakarmikas are having a tough time trying to clean the garbage left by IPL fans. “Pourakarmikas from other localities are being deployed to clear the litter and this in turn is affecting the areas they are responsible for,” he added.

BBMP special commissioner (SWM) D Randeep told TOI, “BBMP has had two rounds of meetings with Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) and others concerned to ensure cleanliness within the stands, while the Shantinagar AEE has been tasked with ensuring cleanliness around the stadium area. “Formally, no one asked the BBMP to join hands for the plog run, but if they want to, then we are ready to help them,” he added.

Hailing plogging as a good initiative, civic activist Sandeep Anirudhan said, “Such events could also be designed to spread awareness among the spectators on segregation and disposal. Cricketers should also be a part of it, he added.

A KSCA spokesperson, Vinay Mrithyunjaya, said they are more than happy to back the plog run.