By Our Correspondent
BERHAMPUR/BHUBANESWAR:A Youth Lead Beach Cleaning Campaign focusing on coastal conservation and turtle protection was successfully organized today, 28th March 2026, at Markandi Beach in Ganjam district by Youth for Social Development (YSD) with support from Goods Deeds Day on Earth Day.
The campaign witnessed 170+ active volunteering of the Sarpanch, Samiti Members, PRI representatives, local community members, youth, children, adolescents, Red Cross ,Bharat Scouts and Guides students from Government UPS Markandi. The initiative aimed to promote a clean beach and a green future while raising awareness about the protection of marine biodiversity, especially Olive Ridley turtles .
Participants actively engaged in cleaning the beach by removing plastic waste, glass bottles, polythene, paper, and other debris , gathered more than 100kg plastics from the coastal belt and Transferred The collected wastes to the MRF unit of Markandi Panchayat .The activity reinforced the message that our coast is our responsibility and our future, encouraging the community to take collective action for environmental sustainability.
The Sarpanch and PRI members motivated the volunteers to maintain cleanliness and adopt eco-friendly practices to protect coastal ecosystems and marine life. The involvement of youth and students highlighted their important role in driving community-based environmental action.
The campaign was coordinated by Chandan Kumar Sahu, Program Coordinator, YSD, and organized by Sudeep Kumar Chakrabarty (Project Coordinator), along with team members Mamali Panda, Alok Nayak, Sasikanta Pradhan, Rajendra Badatiya (Rangailunda Block Coordinator), Barsha Rani Maharana (Climate Coordinator), Suman Sethy(HR), Subhasmita Das(Finance and HR associate) , Sunanda Sahu, and Priyanka Patnayak from Silk City Community Radio. The event was managed under the guidance of Samiti Member Badi Arya Rao, along with village leader B. Narshima, Youth volunteers Kiran ,Suryakant,Arya ,Gopal Krishna,Jogeya,Sujata Behera,Dileswari of Markandi Ganjam coordinated the Programme to be successful
