The Alappuzha municipality will organise a ‘Love the Lake’ campaign to create awareness about Vembanad Lake’s cleanliness. The civic body has planned the campaign in connection with the 68th edition of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race to be held at Punnamada Lake on September 4.
As part of it, three green protocol offices will be set up at Town Square, entrance to the main pavilion, and the VIP pavilion boat jetty under the aegis of the health wing of the municipality. Hundred plastic collection bins will be installed along the major roads leading to the boat race venue. A monitoring mechanism will be put in place to limit the number of plastic bottles brought to pavilions. The municipality will deploy Haritha Karma Sena members, sanitation workers, and volunteers at pavilions and major centres to ensure that the green protocol is strictly followed. Once the boat race is over, a clean-up drive will be carried out in Alappuzha town at night under the aegis of the health wing.
As part of creating awareness against lake pollution, the Haritha Karma Sena will compete in the Thekkanodi category at the boat race. The team will race in Devas Vallam (boat). Alappuzha municipal chairperson Soumya Raj will captain the team and health standing committee chairperson Beena Ramesh will act as her deputy. Haritha Karma Sena members will also participate in a cultural procession.
Ms. Raj said the ‘Love the Lake’ campaign would become a popular movement for the protection of the Vembanad Lake ecosystem. The campaign’s poster was designed by health inspector Jayakrishnan.
Registration begins
Meanwhile, the registration of boats for the NTBR began on Saturday. Seven boats were registered on opening day. They included two each under Iruttukuthi 'B'; Iruttukuthi 'C'; and Veppu 'B' categories and one boat in Iruttukuthi 'A'. The registration will close on August 25.
As many as 1,516 schoolchildren participated in a painting competition organised by the publicity committee of the boat race here on Saturday. The NTBR will also be the first race of this year's Champions Boat League (CBL). Both the NTBR and CBL will be held after a pandemic-induced gap of two years. The race was last held on August 31, 2019.
