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A PICTURE Sparkling beaches, crystal clear sea, and a city as pretty as a picture. This was the vision that unfolded before the GTGSP team, when it first landed in the Veer Savarkar Airport in Port Blair, capital city of the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar. As the members stepped out, they were greeted by Suresh, an auto driver a Tamilian,but who is actually a true native--born and brought up in Port Blair. He seemed to know everything about the town. During the next two days he was a constant companion of the GSP brigade. He helped the members find their way around, guiding them to intesting nooks and corners of Port Blair, exploring beaches and forests.
But what stuck out like a sore thumb were the heaps of waste dumped along the streets, in the drains, even by the seaside! Empty plastic
bottles, cans,all varieties of organic garbage–the litter trail was like an evil disease spreading across the beautiful island.How is solid waste
disposed in Port Blair? It is burnt or dumped directly into the sea, said Suresh. The junk is emptied out on the roads, which reaches the drains,
and finally ends up in the ocean bed. Suresh added, ‘The residents are not the only culprits. Remember, over 1,50,000 tourists visit A&N islands every year. These people and agencies which provide service to them care little about what happens to the litter they leave behind.”Hmmm.... Snehesh Dinesh a grade IX student of Carmel School say’s that “the first step is to clean up our act”. As students we will organise drives to remove the junk from the coast. NOT SO PERFECT Naturally, waste management became the focus of GTGSP training. Ways of Segregation, collection, reuse and recycling of solid waste were intensly debated. All of us want the islands to be waste free. Is not it? Teachers and students attending Green Schools training programme said that they will use what they have learnt to make their schools zero waste zones.
Gobar Times invites readers to share and seek information about Green Schools at:- eeu@cseindia.org or write to Environment Education Unit Centre for Science and Environment 41, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi-110062 |
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