Coastal clean-up drives were held at Visakhapatnam and Pallepalem on Saturday, September 19, as part of International Coastal Cleanup Day 2026. The initiatives focused on removing marine litter and raising awareness about plastic pollution and the protection of coastal ecosystems.

At the Visakhapatnam coastline, around 250 families of Indian Coast Guard personnel joined 50 students from GITAM (Deemed to be University) for a coordinated clean-up drive. The volunteers collected around 300 kg of waste from the beach and near-shore areas.

The collected waste included plastic bottles, polythene covers, food wrappers, fishing nets and other marine debris. The drive was organised as part of the nationwide Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar 5.0 campaign, which ran from September 12 to 19 and concluded with International Coastal Cleanup Day.

A separate clean-up programme was conducted at Pallepalem Beach by the Animal Warriors Conservation Society (AWCS) and HCL Foundation. A total of 156 volunteers participated in the programme and collected 405 kg of plastic waste from the coastal area.

 

The Pallepalem initiative also aimed to create public awareness about marine environmental protection, plastic pollution control and the conservation of marine life. Together, the two drives highlighted the role of community participation in keeping coastal areas cleaner and reducing marine litter.