Reclaim Our Beaches campaign - Students, slum dwellers join hands for beach clean-up

Sangeetha Neeraja | ENS. New Indian Express. 27 January, 2010

This should not be the case of having it clean for one day, and letting it stink for the rest of the year. These beaches are your homes. It's your responsibility to keep them clean

THE sandy stretch across the Urur Kuppam and Olcott Kuppam was cleaned up of the plastic trash by the `Reclaim Our Beaches' campaigners, while the other side of the sandy beach remained an open toilet to the 5,000 residents of the kuppums. The sandy area of defecation with the mix of sewage and drainage remained an open sore.

The women from the kuppams said, "We don't have toilets, if only we have toilets, why do we defecate on the sands." The women had a long list of issues like no streetlight, no regular garbage cleaning, no drainage, no proper water, and it highlights the lack of basic amenities.

The two kuppams have eight paid toilets for men and women, which is far from sufficient. Sharadha Shankar from `Save the Chennai Beaches Campaign' said, " Even after multiple representation from the people to the government on the issue, nothing has happened.

Even S Ve Sekar, the MLA from this constituency, remains silent on it.

This clean-up was part of creating more awareness among the people to keep their environment clean and free of garbage. Along with the beach enthusiasts, the children and the womenfolk from the kuppam also did their share in the clean up. This campaign was aimed at reviving the public spaces like beaches, the last of the sanest places where people could go for fresh air, fun, exercise and for livelihood of some.

Nityanand Jayaraman, environmental activist, said, "There was a good participation from the community and student campaigners. This should not be the case of having it clean for one day, and having it stinking for the rest of the year; everybody should strive to keep the beaches clean."

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