Ullal Children crusade against dumped plastic waste

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Feb 23, 2019: Students of Sayyed Madani High School at Halekote and Tippu Sulthan High School at Kotepura are quietly creating awareness on cleanliness, sanitation and the plastic menace in Ullal as part of their ‘Clean Ullal’ campaign.  The students have collected nearly 400 declaration forms from households on use of toilets, compost pit (for wet waste) and minimum use of plastic.

The declaration form states that they (households) are segregating waste at source and handing it to Ullal City Municipal Council (CMC). The wastewater from their kitchens and bathrooms are not diverted to the sewage pit. “Our house is waste-free and clean,” the declaration form states.

Tippu Sulthan High School headmaster M H Malar said that they had little knowledge on the ill-effects of plastic until Jana Shikshana Trust Directors Sheena Shetty and Krishna Moolya spoke about it in the school in September 2018.

“With the help of teachers and students, it was decided to create awareness among households, shops, business establishments on sanitation, cleanliness and plastic,” he added. Handbills were also distributed.

“Students are administered a sanitation oath daily during the school assembly. This has helped students to realise the ill-effects of plastic. They have stopped throwing plastic wrappers in the open. They have started collecting all plastic waste like chocolate wrappers, milk pouch, carry bags, and medicine covers and handing it to the school. All the plastic waste is segregated by our students and teachers,” he informed.

Malar said, “We exhibited the neatly arranged plastic waste in the school during a programme recently and showed parents how plastic waste can be converted into a resource by reselling it to scrap dealers. We want to work towards zero-waste in our locality in the next academic year by ensuring that all the households convert wet waste into manure on their own premises and dry waste is handed over to the CMC during door-to-door waste collection. The teachers will adopt at least five households to create awareness on the sanitation and
cleanliness”.

Sayyed Madani High School headmaster K M K Manjanady said, “Our school children even pick up wrappers thrown on the road. We will continue to create awareness on cleanliness and sanitation in our school surroundings, to ensure total sanitation”.

Jana Shikshana Trust Director and former MGNREGS Ombudsman Sheena Shetty said: “If all schools, colleges, Anganwadis in Ullal CMC limits become a part of our sanitation drive, then Ullal can be free of garbage on the streets and become a model to the country.”