August 3
The “Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar/Clean Coast Safe Sea” campaign is a 75-day initiative led by citizens with the goal of enhancing ocean health. The programme, which was launched on July 5th, 2022, has three strategic underlying objectives that concentrate on behaviour change for transformation and environmental preservation.
The campaign’s three main objectives are to 1. Consume Responsibly 2. Separate household waste, and 3. Dispose of it responsibly.
The coastal cleanup campaign will be conducted out at 75 beaches across the nation with 75 volunteers for every kilometre of coastline as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav festivities marking the 75th anniversary of the country’s independence.
The campaign will culminate with the largest beach cleaning event on Sept 17, 2022 (International Coastal Cleanup Day) covering 75 beaches across India’s 7500+km coastline.
This campaign will include Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Ministry of Education, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Ministry of Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, National Service Scheme (NSS), Indian Coast Guard, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Paryavaran Sanrakshan Gatividhi (PSG), along with other government departments, social organizations and educational institutions.
Key audiences for the campaign include local communities that rely on oceans and beaches for livelihood, school and college students, youth and citizens in-general.
The campaign will combine both virtual and physical formats for delivering key messages and engaging the target audience in adopting lifestyle and behavioral changes that promote environmental sustainability.
Examples of virtual activities include quizzes, pledges and challenges. Physical activities will include the actual beach clean-up along with rallies, skits and contests etc.
It is the first-of-its-kind and longest running coastal cleanup campaign in the world with highest number of people participating in it.
Through this campaign, a mass behavioural change among the masses is intended by raising awareness about how plastic usage is destroying our marine life.
A mobile app “Eco Mitram” has been launched to spread awareness about the campaign and also for the common people for voluntary registration for the beach cleaning activity on the 17th September 2022.
The target of the programme is to remove 1,500 tonnes of marine litter from the sea-coasts which will be a huge relief to marine life and the people staying in coastal areas.
