CHENNAI, JAN 11
As part of the 44th Raising Day celebrations of the Indian Coast Guard a Special Coastal Clean-up cum Community Interaction Programme was organized by Headquarters, Coast Guard Region (East) on January 11 at Kasimedu Harbour in Chennai.
The coastal clean-up event is one of the enduring resolve of the Indian Coast Guard’s untiring effort in ensuring cleaner coasts in line with the “Swacch Bharat” initiative of the Government of India. The local fisher folk, representatives from the coastal Police, Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP), Dr MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) and personnel from Indian Coast Guard participated enthusiastically in clearing garbage from Chennai’s fishing harbour.
About 2,000 Kg of plastic waste, including discarded nylon nets, were removed and cleaned. Municipal Corporation dumpers were utilized to remove large piles of garbage collected by the participants. Subsequently, a Community Interaction programme by the Indian Coast Guard in co-ordination with BOBP and MSSRF was also conducted at the venue, wherein heads of eight different Fishermen Associations along with 300 fishermen participated.
Issues related to safety of life at sea, carriage of basic life-saving equipment and biometric ID cards were demonstrated to the fishermen during the interaction.
Basic First Aid, including resuscitation of people rescued from drowning and use of the Fishermen Friend Mobile App developed by the MSSRF, were also demonstrated to the appreciative audience. Practical demonstration of life raft designed for safety of fishing boats was also undertaken.
The Chief Guest, DIG N.K. Kaul, Officer in-Charge Coast Guard Store Depot also encouraged all towards proactively ensuring cleanliness of our Coast and requested to take all precautions for safety of lives at sea. He also sought the continuing support of all fishermen in acting as the “Eyes and Ears” of the Indian Coast Guard to help combat any seaward threats to national security. The participants were given safety stickers to be placed on board their vessels for reference, whenever they encounter any emergency at sea.
