Thalassophiles for a Cleaner Shoreline🌊❤

The Port City Colombo being a newly established world class city for South Asian region and a pioneer in developing Sri Lanka initiated the project, Port City Beach Cleanup in the theme of “Lassana Werala” in collaboration with the Rotaract Colombo West family in order to clean the coastal line from Mount Lavinia to Wellawatta. The inagural clean up and the ceremony was held at the Mount Lavinia beach on the 4th January 2020 with the participation of Dr. Priyath Bandu Wickrama, the secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development Water Supply and Housing facilities and the Managing Director of Port City Colombo, Jiang Houliang. The participation of more than 200 rotaractors from numerous rotaract clubs across the island augmented the value of the great initiative.

It is not another single beach cleanup but a one-year initiative launched to clean up the above mentioned beach stretch daily. While Port City Colombo being the organizer and the fund provider, the rotaractors, “Wana Arana Foundation”, Colombo and Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Councils, Department of Coast Conservation, Sri Lanka Police and the Coast Guard will exert their continuous effort throughout the year to keep the beach stretch clean.

Rotaract being a voluntary service initiation, it is admirable that a massive number of rotaractors graced the occasion by contributing their maximum for this worthy course.

Rotaract Club of SLIIT was privileged to witness this occasion with the participation of 20+ SLIIT Rotaractors along with fellow rotaractors from other clubs. The enthused thalassophiles gathered around the Mount Lavinia beach by 7.00 am. The organizing committee divided all the rotaractors into three groups as Team Mount Lavinia, Team Wellawatta, Team Dehiwala and then provided them with jackets and breakfast. RACSLIIT got registered under the Team Mount Lavinia.

The sea was calm but the beach was not. Energetic Rotaractors scattered around the beach in a matter of seconds to clean the trash. The garbage bags were soon filled with a lot of trash reminding us the damage that the man kind has made knowingly or unknowingly. The land limit of the Mount Lavinia beach is marked with the railway track and it was tragic to eyewitness that the train passengers dump polythene on to the beach line while travelling. After a tiresome yet a satisfied effort we cleaned the entire beach adding true meaning to the theme “Lassana Werala”.

Then after the mandatory photography session, we were provided with refreshments marking the end of the day’s task. After a serious clean up session, next began the fun session of the day. We enjoyed another few hours in the wavy sea under the mighty raise of the sun (end of the day we looked like roasted chicken)and chatting with the new companions we made while cleaning the beach.

It is a point to note that one cannot escape stating that he or she did not necessarily dump garbage on to the beach so they do not hold the responsibility of the environmental damage. The collected trash included a flow of household trash, industrial waste items and many more.

After all Sri Lanka is the motherland to all of us and the Eco system of it is the backbone to us. Therefore it is our responsibility to protect the natural environment today for a better tomorrow! 🌅❤