Blogosteph-Home

Save Tada

Andhra PradeshPosted by Steph 2009-11-06 21:39:11

There are many things in India that used to upset me, but i learnt to accept them as they are; only one thing i refuse to tolerate: littering and spoiling the environment. Unfortunately, this is quite natural for most Indians... So when i received an email from the Chennai Trekking Club begining of October annoucing a cleaning trek in Tada on the 1st of November, i immediately registered.

Tada, located in the hills of Andhra Pradesh 2 hours from Chennai, is famous for its waterfalls, forests and beautiful sceneries. But it has also become famous for being the meeting point of drunkeners who harass the people and leave their garbage behind. Indeed, during the trek we have seen many of those, both young and elder people, and even people from higher castes. Unfortunately the local authorities do not intervene, some corrupt elements even make profit out of it by getting money from the guys who carry alcohol, instead of preventing them to go inside the forest.

The figures resulting from this trek were amazing: more than 230 people joined with 4 buses, 500 bags were filled with garbage, which represents a weight of approx. 2 tons! We were divided in more than 20 teams, each one of us dedicated to a particular spot; in my area (around 4m²), i collected 5 pairs of men shoes in size 8 (why size 8??), 12 plastic bottles, plastic bags, glass bottles, aluminium containers, etc.

The pictures speak for themselves...