The Environmentalist Foundation of India, on the occasion of Madras Day, recognised a number of individuals and institutions toiling for Madras and her environment. Here are the individuals honoured:
- CMRL: CMRL was awarded for its efforts to greenen the city. Dr. Rajeev K. Srivastava, IFS (Retd.) – Chief Advisor (Environment) of CMRL, while accepting the award, stated that currently CMRL has covered 48 km of track in the city and they will be expanding to 100 km. In the construction of the Metro, CMRL had decided to plant 12 saplings for every 1 tree they cut. The IFS officer stated that till now, CMRL has cut 4000 trees, and planted 70,000 indigenous trees with a success rate of 92%.
- Lakshmi Sundar: This Chennai Runners marathoner spoke about the evolution of the marathon for a cause concept for Chennai Runner. “We wanted to own a cause while we ran. At the same time, the Kazhipattur lake needed funds for renovation. Thus we organised a charity run for it.
- Logabhiraman: An executive from Hexaware was awarded for his efforts to save the environment.
- M.Illayaraja: This officer from the GCC has more than often gone above and beyond his call duty to ensure that EFI’s efforts to clean the beach at Marina are unhampered, irrespective of the crowd, VIP visits to the beach or special occasions.
- Unnat Bharat Abhiyan Club: The volunteers from this club stated that though they were a small club, we do look forward to being involved in bigger efforts and making an even bigger impact on the environment.
- ROKA: The Residents of Kasturba Nagar Association highlighted the importance of source segregation in reducing the pollution of land and water bodies.
- Jhansi Rani: This principal of a rural school in Thirunelveli thanked EFI for bringing awareness among the students of her school towards the environment.
- Sruthi Khabiya: This young volunteer from Rotaract Club collected nearly 2000 kgs of waste from the beaches during her volunteering. This experience of her has helped her in implementing various projects in other cities like Goa and Indore.
- Shylaja Chetlur: This veteran actress, who has supported EFI’s efforts, spoke about her learning experience with EFI.
- Padmaja Jayaraman: This Times of India reporter was appreciated for her commitment to immediately reporting incidents that violated the beach. She encouraged the audience to not shy away from reporting incidents and complain to the respective authorities immediately.
- T.K.Smitha: This environment-conscious reporter said that more than taking care of the environment, we must fall in love with it. With love, we automatically will respect and take care of it.
- Krishna Kumar, IFS: This Indian Forest Service Officer from Tambaram range informed that they have many indigenous species of saplings to distribute to the public for free, with the condition that an update about its planting is sent to the team. EFI took responsibility and sent regular updates about each sapling bought.
- Manju: She works for the horticulture department of GCC and thanked EFI for the experience.
- N.Sivakumar: He has helped EFI paint the city wall with useful information about flora and fauna. “We are now searching for more space,” he said.
