This story is from June 9, 2019

Coastal cleaning drives mark World Ocean Day

A mass beach cleaning drive was conducted along the coastal belt in the district on the occasion of World Ocean Day on Saturday.
Coastal cleaning drives mark World Ocean Day
Volunteers collecting debris during the beach clean-up drive, organized by Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishath, at Veli
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A mass beach cleaning drive was conducted along the coastal belt in the district on the occasion of World Ocean Day on Saturday.
Two separate drives were conducted at Kovalam and Veli by Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishath .
Dr A Bijukumar of Kerala University said human beings have been turning oceans into waste bins. "By looting the marine wealth and damaging marine habitat, man has destroyed the natural production in ocean.
Around 80% of the waste in the ocean is dumped by humans," he said while inaugurating the cleaning drive at Veli.
Around 267 species were under threat due to pollution and studies said around 90% of seabirds have plastic waste in their body, pointed out T P Sudhakaran of the Parishad, who presided over the event.
Meanwhile, Uday Samudra Kovalam organized an event to spread awareness on the importance of oceans and how it can be saved from the present crisis. Beach cleaning campaign was followed by an awareness seminar inaugurated by Baby Mathew, president of Kerala Travel Mart. The seminar was held in association with Ocean Love, an organization that fights against ocean pollution.
"The core intention of this event is to educate the younger generation about the need to protect our oceans," said Raja Gopaal Iyer, founder and chairman, Ocean Love and CEO of UDS Hotels.
Students of Sai Krishna Public School, Christ Nagar, University of Kerala and SMV School participated in the event.
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