Swachh – Nirmal Tat Abhiyan

There is a common acronym –if you want to see cleanliness and hygiene of the country, see the beaches of that particular country. This acronym holds good for many countries. In simple words, clean beaches can be a source of tourism which can help in generating revenue. As far as Indian beaches are concern they are below average, full of cabbage and dirt so, to revive and make our beaches neat and clean, and create awareness amongst citizens about the importance of coastal ecosystems, there is a new initiative by The Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate change under “Swachh – Nirmal Tat Abhiyan” to mass cleaning cum awareness drive in 50 identified beaches across India from 11th – 17th November 2019 Selection of beaches will be through aid and advise of the concerned state

Importance of Swachh— Nirmal Tat Abhiyan

Under this initiative a total of 10 coastal states /Union territories were targeted – namely Gujarat, Daman & Diu, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha. In this Abhiyaan, beach cleaning activity will take place daily for two hours; Sand cleaning machines will be deployed to complete work efficiently, on average, the one-kilometre area will be identified. The collected waste will be recycled and will be processed as per Solid waste management rules, 2016, under which there will be channelling take place from waste to wealth by way of reuse, recycle and recovery.

This Abhiyaan will be based on a volunteering Partnership where Students will undertake cleaning drives in all beaches from both College/school, Eco-clubs members, institutions, local communities and stakeholders. To enhance the implementation of the policy of abhiyaan in a more efficient manner, there is a provision to award the best three beaches who perform well on the collection along with Eco-clubs will be getting a certificate of appreciation. This award has been decided to confer by the Ministry Environment Education Division big the ministry and Society of integrated Coastal Management (SICOM). Other Generators were given the responsibility to segregate waste in three streams, namely- wet, dry and domestic hazardous waste. In contrast, wet waste includes biodegradable waste; dry waste includes metal, plastic, paper, etc. And hazardous waste includes diapers, napkins, empty containers of cleaning agents, mosquito repellents, etc. and to handover all the segregated material to local rag pickers or local waste collectors. There will be the establishment of Nodal agencies which will check into the Eco-clubs as they will be working as facilitators. The concerned ministry officials will be deployed to ensure proper working during the Abhiyaan. Generators will be responsible for paying User fee to kabadiwalas and waste collectors and to pay a spot fine as well for only littering and not segregating the waste. The partnership will ensure proper segregation and eliminate the waste with the help of event organizers, hotels and restaurants.

The procedure has been made to develop in-house waste handling, and processing things for biodegradable waste for which Group Housing Societies have been made responsible. Every street vendor should keep in mind to use proper containers for a particular type of waste like if waste is biodegradable, it should be of kept in a green container. If waste Is of non-biodegradable nature, it needs to be kept in a Blue container, waste such as cups, cans, straw, wrappers, papers, food waste, disposable plates, leftover fruits must be kept in a suitable container. The great attempt was made for recovery and recycling facility where developers of an industrial estate and industrial park will give 5%vof total area for the recycling process. It also made it mandatory for manufacturers of disposable products to provide necessary financial help for the establishment of a waste management system to local authorities. It also extended the responsibility of producers in the manner to collect back the packaging waste, which was generated as a result of production.

Conclusion-

We found that Swachh— Nirmal Tat Abhiyaan was a great initiative by the centre and state government to clean beaches as we all know mammals also need oxygen. If they are getting intoxicated, they will not be able to survive so it may threaten the whole ecosystem. We also came to know that cleaning of beaches may, in turn, advance more tourism, which means more revenue which will surely help in the country's infrastructure. Under this Abhiyan, a certain decision has been taken to recycle, reuse waste products and more focus has been made on “waste to wealth”.