Coastal Cleanup Day - Sep 19th

I have a concept paper from Ms Kamla Ravikumar, a good friend of this blog and a dedicated activist, about the Chennai response to "Coastal Cleanup Day" which is celebrated worldwide on Sep 19th. It is always gratifying to see this kind of grassroots activity take place and while some criticize it for the fact that it takes place just once a year, I personally think that this is still immensely important as more and more people are exposed to the dirt that we sometimes unknowingly send into our beautiful seas. Celebrating one day a year to voluntarily clean up even a small portion of our coast is very positive in that it shows many of us what we could do to reduce activity that causes pollution from our side. This can have a snowballing effect and lead to greater advantages year after year as the momentum from celebrating a "clean festival" is kept up.

Please check out Kamla's paper and try and volunteer to help. I really miss my beautiful city of birth in times like this and wish I were back in Madras Nalla Madras again! Thank you very much, Kamla.

CONCEPT PAPER WORLDWIDE “COASTAL CLEANUP DAY”(CCD) ON 19TH SEP 2009 ALONG TN COAST



INTRODUCTION: The Coastal Clean up Day( CCD) is an Annual Volunteer Event Worldwide to cleanup the Coastal Areas, especially the Beaches and educate the children and the coastal population and thus Protect the Fragile Environment along the Coast and show Community Support for Shared Natural Resource of Coastal Habitat
AIM: to participate in CCD and Cleanup the stretch of coast between Ennore Port and Mahabalipuram along the Tamil Nadu Coast (a length of 64 KM ) upto the nearest coastal belt road with Diverse Environmental Issues and Coastal Activities and with a view to ensure Local Participation and educate them , under the overall aegis of the Ocean Conservancy, USA(www.oceanconservancy.org) Indian Maritime Foundation (IMF) at Pune. (www.indianmaritimefoundation.com )

PLAN: The proposal is to Cleanup the above Coastal Stretch and Educate Local Population and School Children from 0630 hours to approx 1000 hrs on the World CCD on Saturday the 19th Sep 2009 in Eight Blocks as follows:

Sl Block From To KMs
(a) 1 Ennore Sattangadu 9


(b) 2 Sattangadu CPT/Cooum N 8



© 3 Cooum S Adyar R N 6


(d) 4 Adyar R S Valmiki Ngr 8


(e) 5 Valmiki Ngr Cho Art Vill 8


(f) 6 Cho Art Vill Muthukadu N 8


(g) 7 Muthukadu S Kovalam 8



(h) 8 Kovalam MB Puram 9


An estimated 1000 volunteers(apart from local public) will be mobilized by the Nodal Agencies for the CCD under the aegis of the IMF, both from within and outside their organizations.


EXECUTION: The Detailed Planning and Methodology will be given to the Nodal Agencies by the IMF atleast a week before the event , based on the Ocean Conservancy, USA Model WorldWide, so as to Collect Garbage, etc from the Sea Coast in Bags and their Proper Disposal through the Local Corporation/ Town Panchayat/ Civic Authorities. The IMF will supply the Kits for Collection as well as the Appreciation Certificates to Team Leaders and Participants, to be funded by the Sponsors, who will get due Publicity. A Pre Event Press Conference will be held at Chennai by the IMF around 12th Sep 2009 with all Concerned Nodal Agencies and Civic Authorities to Highlight the Movement’s aim of keeping our Coastal Belt Clean and Preserve our Coastal Heritage. Nodal Agencies will Disseminate the details of the achievements to the IMF by AM 19 Sep 2009 for Post Event Coverage by the Press/ Media(both Print and Electronic). The Vice President IMF will debrief and Chief Guest will present Certificates to the Team Leaders at a Function on the Evening of 19th Sep 2009. IMF/Nodal Agencies will involve the Locals as well as the School Children in their Areas for Effective CCD

SPONSORS: The IMF will invite Sponsorships with due publicity) for the CCD Movement from Renowned ‘Green’ Corporates to cover the Costs of the Event. The Estimated Cost of Conducting the CCD for the stated Coastal Stretch(64 SKM) is Rs 5,00,000.


6. CONCLUSION: The CCD will not only help to clean the coastal belt, but will create awareness and educate the public and the school children to value our coastal heritage. The event will be covered by the Media and the next issue of the IMF magazine “Seagull” will carry writeup on the subject. Depending upon the experience and success, the movement under the IMF will be enlarged to longer coastal areas in future in different parts of the coastal states.




(Prepared by Rear Admiral K.R.Srinivasan, AVSM,IN(Retd) Former Chief Hydrographer to the Govt of India and Vice President, IMF, Chennai Branch)