The clean-up was held at the Swaminarayan Holy Beach Mandvi and was organised by the Puneet Sagar Abhiyan. This is an initiative launched by the Government of India, in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme and the National Cadet Corps (NCC), to clean beaches and other bodies of water of plastic and other waste, while also raising awareness on the importance of keeping these areas clean. To participate in the event, AKS, Mundra selected 50 NCC cadets from Grades 9-12 to attend, who were all provided with cleaning materials and divided into teams to pick and sort the waste they collected.  

In addition to picking up waste from the beach, the students were also interacting with visitors to the beach and raising awareness on the importance of maintaining the beach’s cleanliness and avoiding the usage of plastic. Grade 10 student of AKS, Munrdra Bharat Gadhvi, who participated in the event, said the clean-up and speaking to the beachgoers goes hand-in-hand with each other. 

“Removing trash from beaches will not just ensure a beautiful coastline, but also help to maintain a healthy marine ecosystem,” said Grade 10 student of AKS, Munrdra Bharat Gadhvi, who participated in the event. “We also need to make people aware of its importance.”