Rameswaram: In a drive to remove plastic waste from Gulf of Mannar in order to save the marine ecosystem, forest personnel trained in scuba diving.
The cleanliness drive began the initiative on 12 February.
According to officials, the Gulf of Mannar is a marine ecosystem. It includes coral reefs, salt marshes and mangroves. The coral reefs were experiencing degradation due to collection of plastic waste on the sea bed.
This initiative comes after the Tamilnadu government had banned plastics, including that of non-biodegradable carry bags, from 1 January 2019. Tamil Nadu Plastics Manufacturers’ Association had termed the order as discriminatory.
However, many commercial establishments subsequently switched over to eco-friendly cloth and paper bags.