Students and staff of College of Fisheries, beach walkers and the local people cleaned the Tannirbavi Beach on Friday.
The exercise was part of International Coastal Cleanup Campaign.
They collected plastic waste, non-degradable waste, including thermocol and industrial waste, in waste collection bags and handed them over to Mangaluru City Corporation.
The participants, holding placards, went on a march in the nearby areas spreading the cleanliness message and educating the people on the harmful effects of plastic waste and other non-degradable material dumped in to the sea. Pamphlets that were distributed highlighted the adverse impact of plastic waste, while requesting the residents to avoid usage of plastic.
Speaking on the occasion, Dean and Professor of the college A. Senthil Vel highlighted the importance of safeguarding the environment and inculcating the habit of respecting the coastline which, in turn, nurtures marine biodiversity.
As the coastal stretches of the country and the coastal waters are being used as dumping areas for solid waste in several places of the country, coastal environment is becoming highly polluted and plastic waste, which constitutes more than 60% of solid waste, gets disintegrated into micro plastics finding its own way into the food chain as it is consumed by fish and thereafter by human beings, he said.
The former dean of the college S.M. Shivaprakash and the former Managing Director of the Karnataka Fisheries Development Corporation V.K. Shetty spoke on the importance of the cleanliness drive.