NIO scientists pick 250kg waste from Caranzalem beach

Panaji: The scientists, technical staff and research scholars of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa, collected about 250kg of waste, including glass bottles from Caranzalem beach in Panaji. The collected waste was handed over to the Corporation the City of Panaji (CCP) for disposal.
The cleanliness drive was held to mark World Ocean Day, observed on June 8, with an aim to maintain a clean seashore and spread awareness about marine pollution.
NIO director, Sunil Kumar Singh, urged the participants to pay attention to the importance of keeping the seashores clean and plastic free. “The increasing pollution of plastic waste is an environmental concern which needs to be addressed and awareness needs to be created among the public and tourists about controlling the use of plastics,” he said.
An area of 1km was cleaned by the 100 participants of NIO in which plastic waste weighed 185kg, glass bottles weighed 40kg and household waste about 15-20kg. The collected waste was segregated before handing it over to the CCP for disposal.
Coordinated by technical officer of NIO Goa, Thavapandian P, the event was held in collaboration with Ocean Society of India (OSI) and National Centre for Coastal Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
Speaking at the event, OSI general secretary, Dr Mani Murali, explained the role of National Centre of Coastal Research in cleaning nearly 17 beaches all over the country on the occasion of World Ocean Day through OSI.