G20: Clean-up drive held at Goa beaches, several gutka packets recovered

 A large number of gutka packets strewn at Colva and Calangute beaches in Goa were recovered by participants of a beach clean-up drive undertaken on Sunday as a part of India's G20 Presidency, an official said. drive was organised by Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, Department of Environment and Climate Change, Goa State Biodiversity Board and Goa State Climate Change cell.

Indian Navy personnel also took part in beach clean-up drive at Colva in South Goa district and Calangute in rth Goa district. State Environment Secretary Arun Kumar Mishra said gutka sachets were among litter found at beaches.

“I will issue instructions that eir se sachets be processed or we will take legal remedies (against se product sellers),” he said. Mishra said state government will certainly take measures to control this.

Speaking about central government's initiative, Mishra said in 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi made this as an nda, body could believe that cleanliness could be an nda. “But, it is established that cleanliness is an important nda for country,” he added.

Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry Director Dharmendra Kumar Gupta, who was personally present to oversee drive at Colva beach Goa, said, “During garb collection, we saw re are lot of plastic bottles and plastic fishing nets on beach." Indian Navy's Flag Officer Commanding Goa Area, Rear Admiral Vikram Men, said it (such campaign) is very satisfying, but at one level it is disheartening to see "we are t doing eugh, as a community, to look after our beaches." “se are such beautiful beaches. We can't expect everything to be done by authorities. We have to see as an individual that beaches are t littered,” he said.

Goa State Biodiversity Board member secretary Pradip Sarmokadam said it is responsibility of every individual to clean-up beaches. “It is t that we litter a beach every time and contractors will clean it,” he said. Sarmokadam said littering has to be controlled at source. “We found many gutka packets lying here and re. Some action needs to be taken on it,” he added.