Chennai: 60 tonnes of waste removed from Besant Nagar beach

CHENNAI: In two hours, nearly 2,500 volunteers, including 600 students and corporation workers, cleaned the 1.2km stretch of Besant Nagar beach on Sunday and collected about 60 tonnes of waste and debris.
The detritus would be segregated and sent to recycling centres. The clean-up drive was organized by the Greater Chennai Corporation’s solid waste management contractor, Urbaser Sumeet.
Mehmood Sait, the chief operating officer of the company, said after the rain, more than 270 tonnes of plastic and debris had washed ashore near Broken Bridge in the city.“It was segregated and cleared by us but we wanted to create awareness on the segregation of waste and the importance of keeping the beaches clean. So we decided on this drive,” he said.
Students from corporation school and city colleges, conservancy staff of the GCC, residents in and around Besant Nagar, corporates and activists took part in the clean-up drive. Gagandeep Singh Bedi, commissioner, Greater Chennai Corporation, said only if people and the civic body come together, public places, water bodies and beaches can be kept clean. “We found a lot of shoes, plastic bottles, clothes and plastic waste on the beach. We need to be aware of the roles beaches play in climate conservaion and ensure we keep all waterbodies clean,” he said.