KOCHI: If all goes according to plan, Ernakulam can soon boast of being a ‘waste-free’ district. Thanks to the district administration which launched the ‘Ente Clean Ernakulam’ project with an aim to make public places waste-free.District Collector S Suhas inaugurated the drive on Saturday by removing plastic and other waste on both sides of the National Highway stretch between Kochi Metro Rail’s Muttom station and Ambattukavu station.
Besides Aluva MLA Anwar Sadath, nearly 300 students from Kalamassery Polytechnic and SCMS College participated. Anbodu Kochi volunteers, people’s representative, officials and the public too took part in the drive which started at 7 am at Muttom station.
“Our aim is to make the district free of waste. This is just a stepping stone as we have miles to go to make the district clean. The experience that we gained from the drive is to be used to take the project to the next stage,” said Suhas.
“Through this project, we are making the public aware of the importance of waste management. The challenges being faced by the authorities concerned while dealing with waste should be known to the public. If we get adequate support, the district can be free of waste,” said Suhas.
Earlier, the Collector handed over T-shirts and caps imprinted with ‘Ente Clean Ernakulam’ to participants who reached early. “We got tremendous support from VKV Caterers, Nest Group, Construction Equipment Owners Association and several others” he said.