300 kg  plastic waste collected during Chennai Corporation’s ‘plogging challenge’

CHENNAI: Around 150 city residents collected about 300 kg of plastic waste at the end of Greater Chennai Corporation’s ‘Plogging Challenge’ at Elliot’s Beach, Besant Nagar on Sunday. 

Gathering around 6 am, the participants jogged a five-km circuit, beginning and ending near the Elliot’s Beach police booth, picking up plastic trash along their way. The event, that lasted an hour-and-a-half, was inaugurated by Corporation Commissioner G Prakash, who also took part.

“Although conservancy is one of the Corporation’s core activities, the number of sanitary workers, at around 20,000, is disproportionate to the city’s population of almost a crore. So, it is the responsibility of the citizenry too to keep the city clean,” he said ahead of the launch. The civic body is planning to make plogging a monthly activity.

Eight conservancy staff also participated. While the civic body employs beach cleaning machines to keep the beach clean, conservancy staff said its scope was limited to the beach itself.

“We can pick up waste from the sandy area, but we still have to collect waste ourselves from the sidewalks and walking track. So, it will be helpful if residents pitch in” said a conservancy staff.

Besant Nagar residents welfare association, which collected the most waste, was awarded a special prize by the civic body.