Students give Marina a sweep

Student power was out in the fore at the Marina on Friday, when as many as 350 of them rolled up their sleeves and plunged into a drive to free the beach of litter, on Friday.

The six-day ‘Marina Beach Cleaning and Awareness Programme’ was jointly organised by the Lion’s Club, Chennai Corporation and Global Safety Trust, and inaugurated by Mayor Saidai S Duraiswamy.

Attired in the white t-shirts and sun caps, the volunteers — students of Quaid-e-Millat College for Women — went ahead with zest, removing the litter and dumping it into polythene bags. The garbage was taken away in a truck.

Speaking on the occasion, the Mayor said: “Singapore, it must be remembered, was a picture of squalor in the 1970s. It was through a concerted public effort that it has today become among the cleanest places in the world. I see no reason why the same cannot be replicated in Chennai.” He lauded the students for taking part in the drive, adding that instilling such values in them would benefit the nation. District cabinet secretary of the Lion’s Club, Lakshmi Narayanan, dwelt on the increasing tendency to litter the Marina and the need to keep it clean.