East Godavari: Deepika Tadi, a resident of Antarvedi village in Andhra Pradesh's East Godavari district, was accorded a rare honour to represent India at a digital assembly organized by the United Nations Organisation (UNO) on Tuesday on the occasion of World Oceans Day. She was one of the delegates from across the world to attend the online conference hosted by the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs, in partnership with Oceanic Global.
Deepika shared the story of her village working collectively to reduce ocean plastic pollution as part of the 'Antarvedi Zero-Waste Initiative' at the global platform. She has studied up to Class 9 but spoke eloquently on the activities undertaken towards the prevention of marine pollution and the awareness created among the people in her area. ''With the collective cooperation of people, our area is polythene waste-free and the beach looks pleasant. I am very happy and will continue making efforts," Deepika said at the UNO conference.
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"The Antarvedi beach was witnessing increasing pollution with people dumping plastic and polythene waste in the coastal areas. Our team collected plastic waste and took it to a special centre for proper treatment. A smart village movement was launched by the Green Worms last February. I am a member of this waste management company and I tried to create awareness among people on the ill-effects of marine pollution," she told the conference.
"Iron baskets have been placed at multiple locations for effective waste disposal. Here we motivate people to dispose of polythene waste. Our team sort the waste at Zero Waste Center and send it for recycling, ”she explained. Green Worms, headquartered in Kerala's Kozhikode, claims to foster growth and empower rural communities in India through the employment of digital technologies to control pollution. In this initiative, Deepika and four other women were made members of Green Worms collect plastic waste from coastal areas and temples among other places, besides preventing pollution. Members of Green Worms sent a video on the prevention of coastal pollution, biodiversity, survival and livelihood of fishermen to the UN.
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After examining entries from various countries, the UN selected a total of 30 people, including Deepika, to attend the global event and represent India. Taking to Twitter, Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan congratulated Deepika. In a tweet, he said, "I congratulate Ms Tadi Deepika, a native of #Antarvedi in East Godavari dist for unique opportunity received by her to represent India in a virtual meeting being organised by #UnitedNationsOrganistion (@UNO) on the occasion of #WorldOceansDay2021."
In another tweet, he said, "Ms. #Deepika is one among 45 speakers from different countries participating in an online event focused on reducing pollution in #oceans. She achieved this recognition for her work on #wastemanagement in #coastalvillages."
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