Sri Vijaya Puram, Sept. 22: Coastal cleanup drives held at six rural beaches in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands collected 1,999.5 kg of waste, or nearly two tonnes, as the Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) 2026 campaign combined sanitation activities with community participation across all nine blocks.
The campaign began on September 17 with the Swachhata Pledge, followed by cleanliness and sanitation activities involving communities, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), students, sanitary workers and government officials.
On September 19, coastal cleanliness drives were organised at Rangachang, Radhanagar, Laxmanpur, Kalapathar, Burmanallah and Anderson Island under the International Coastal Clean-up Day (ICCD) initiative. The six beaches were selected from 110 beaches identified by the Ministry for coastal cleanup activities.
Approximately 600 people participated in the six drives. The collected waste included plastic, glass, metal, paper and cardboard, multi-layered plastic (MLP), tetra packs, mixed waste and other categories.
At Rangachang Beach, Dr Apurva Sharma, Director (RD), led the programme in the presence of the Director (Power), Block Development Officer (BDO) and Pradhan. The event began with the Swachhata Pledge before participants undertook a community-led beach cleaning drive.
The campaign also included a plantation activity under the green initiative of SHS 2026. The ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ drive was conducted at the newly developed Eco-Friendly Park, with dignitaries, PRI representatives and local residents taking part.
The coordinated activities across the nine blocks placed coastal sanitation, waste removal and community participation among the key components of the SHS 2026 campaign in the Islands.
