Volunteers collect more than 300 bagfuls of plastic waste weighing over 1.25 tonnes
Volunteers collect more than 300 bagfuls of plastic waste weighing over 1.25 tonnes
A collective of nature lovers spent their weekend cleaning up the 10-km stretch of the Nadugani ghat road between Vazhikkadavu and Nadugani. The road through the forests connecting Tamil Nadu and Kerala was so badly littered that a group of wildlife photographers led by V.M. Sadique Ali came forward to take up the clean-up mission.
About 500 nature lovers joined the drive that saw the whole stretch of the beautiful ghat road being thoroughly cleaned up. Among them were teachers, students, social workers and local volunteers. Nilambur North Division Forest officials lent support to the drive.
Volunteers were split into 20 groups and each group took care of half a kilometre stretch. The Nilambur Jeepers offered 20 jeeps to take volunteers to the areas assigned to them. They collected more than 300 bagfuls of plastic waste weighing more than 1.25 tonnes. An organisation named Scrappi took care of the plastic waste by sending it for recycling.
“This was the first such mission conducted for the Nadugani ghat road, which is a path of pride for all Malayalis. It is the responsibility of every one of us to maintain this sylvan track clean,” said Mr. Sadique Ali.
As a wildlife photographer who travels through forests, Mr. Sadique Ali was saddened on seeing animals dying after consuming plastic and other ‘unsafe’ waste thrown carelessly by the passengers. “We have seen several animals falling victim to plastics thrown carelessly by people. We want not only to create awareness among people, but also to repair the damage done to nature. We want to salvage the forest routes,” he said.
Apart from goods vehicles, hundreds of people are using the ghat road every day to travel between destinations in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The ghat road had suffered extensive damage during the floods of 2018 and 2019, and vehicle transport was banned for months on end along the route.
Apart from animals like lion-tailed macaques, elephants, tigers, leopards, bears, Nilgiri martens and Great hornbills, a wide variety of birds, butterflies and snakes are found in the forests that cover the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border.
“The food waste that people discard along with plastic wrappers increased dangerously in recent times,” said Mr. Sadique Ali, appealing the local bodies concerned to take initiative to prevent any further degradation of the land and the forest.
“We are going to send a memorandum to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan seeking the government initiative to prevent people from destroying this route. Similar clean-up drives will be done in Thamarassery and Kakkadampoyil ghat roads,” he said.
Vazhikkadavu deputy range officer Abdul Jaleel inaugurated the clean-up drive.
