Media Release

Mangalore, April 30: The DK district administration will organize a massive cleaning drive covering 43 Kms of Karnataka’s coastline ‘Save Our Beach’ on Sunday May 1.

This is the third event in succession to ‘Half Marathon’ and ‘Mass Shramadhana’ that were conducted by the district administration to ensure a ‘Clean, Green and Progressive Mangalore’. Deputy commissioner Subodh Yadav has been actively involved in creating events that work in harmony with and is able to synergize the entire Government body of the city to work towards this larger vision.

Deputy Commissioner Subodh Yadav said “Mangalore is growing like a mushroom in terms of real estate, industries, educational institutes, and infrastructure. It has taken over any place in terms of development in the recent past. At this juncture what we want to ensure is the importance of ‘Sustainable development”. 

“Any development is incomplete without a sustainable growth. Otherwise it is merely a concrete city in shades of grey. Our work for Mangalore started from ‘What Mangalore does not have? We want to create a civic sense and want to make this a people’s place. We want to ensure public participation in each and every programme organized by us. We want to ensure the people of Dakshina Kannada a feeling of oneness and belongingness with the administration”, he added.

“There is also a need to find a good team of organizers who could take up the task on a continuous basis and aim to conduct similar many more massive drives in city to ensure public participation and awareness and work towards sustainable growth”. heNoted. The district administration expects more than 8,000 volunteers to participate in the mega clean-up drive. The ambulance, food, transport, equipments arrangements have also been made.

The entire coastal area of Dakshina Kannada has been divided into five zones to ensure effective cleaning campaigns. Each of these zones is headed by a district-level officer. The five zones identified include beach from Talapady to Nethravathi, Bengre to NMPT South, Panambur to Hosabettu, Hosabettu to Sasihithlu, and Chitrapura to Hejmady.

“Save Our Beach’ is not a day’s event; it is a movement- A people participative movement to clean the land we are living for so many years.  To see the beach clean and crystal clear is a joy forever. Hence it is each and everyone’s responsibility to work towards this cause”, said Vijay Prakash, commisioner, Mangalore City Corporation.

“This campaign for South Canara means opening up of new avenues in the tourism sector. This also in turns opens employment opportunities for the youth and the local inhabitants”, said  Yatish Baikampady, president, Mogaveera Mandali, Dakshina Kannada-Udupi branch.

“Localites along with the officials should coordinate cleanliness efforts at the local level with villagers and others concerned.” he added.

The environment related topics are always debatable. This is because of the pace at which the development is taking place.  And especially development near the coast is a very sensitive issue. The increase in urbanization of cities and industrialization along the coastline is posing a threat to the ecological balance of the region by polluting it.

Thus ‘Save Our Beach’ a mega cleaning drive that aims to improve the living environment of the Mangalore coast through positive goals towards a greater public awareness and conserving the environment. The objective of this exercise is to mobilize the community members to clean the beach and create an initial awareness to discourage further abuse of the beach and to protect the community from possible threats to the life of the Marine and their own health because if one does not clean the beaches one is putting one’s own future at stake.

About ‘Save Our Beach’

It is an initiative undertaken by the District Commissioner of Mangalore to clean the beaches of Mangalore on the May 1, 2011. Beach cleaning is more than just a coastal issue; it is a global issue that represents a major threat to many helpless marine species. It is estimated that, globally, over a million birds and 100,000 marine creatures die every year from entanglement, or ingestion of plastics and millions of health hazard cases for the people. The Mangalore coast stretches to about 43 kms covering 23 villages and 9 beaches facing the Arabian Sea.

This is a wakeup call to all Mangloreans to come together and join hands to make the coast of Mangalore a pristine one. The objective of this exercise is to mobilize the community members to clean the beach and create an initial awareness to discourage further abuse of the beach

The objective:

To improve the living environment of Mangalore coast through positive goals towards a greater public awareness and conserving the environment.

Inauguration Venues:

Mukkacheri*Mogaveerpattana*Kotepura*Someshwara Temple*Battapadi*Mahajana Sabha Ferri point)*Foot Ball Ground Bengre*Nagadevar bana Bengre* Fathima Church Tannirubavi*Panamboor Beach*Baikamady Park*Navajothi Maidan*Chitrapur High school Maidan*Bhagavati Temple Beach, Mundavu*Bhagavati Temple –Bavu Fish Mill *Guddekoppalu and Doddekoppqlu Beach and Mitrapatna*Hosbettu Beach*Chitrapu-Smashan*Sterling Custems House*Kolachikambala*

For further details one can contact:

Laxmi Shenoy (PR Coordinator) - 9986967371