Noida holds mini marathon, nature walk to mark World Environment Day

Around 500 people, including residents, officials, and volunteers, took part in the ‘Clean Mini Marathon’ organised by Noida authority in association with Coforge (formerly known as NIIT Technologies) to mark World Environment Day on Wednesday.

Authority officials said the marathon began from the Sector 21A Stadium early morning and moved through parts of the city before returning to the stadium after spreading awareness on environment conservation. The district forest department also organised a nature walk at the Okhla Bird Sanctuary to mark the day.

The awareness campaign, aimed at sensitising people about air, water and land pollution, and discouraging plastic use, among other issues, was launched by the Noida authority with the theme ‘Clean Noida, Green Noida’. The campaign has seen huge participation of people this time as compared to previous years, said officials.

“Senior officials of the health department, representatives of residents’ welfare associations, volunteers and residents participated in huge numbers in the clean mini marathon organised to mark the day. The marathon started from the Sector 21A Stadium, and moved through parts of the city, spreading the message of conservation among the public,” said Lokesh M, CEO, Noida authority.

District Development Residents Welfare Association (DDRWA) members said the awareness campaign saw the participation of around 500 people.

“The marathon started at 5am from Sector 21A stadium and moved through the city and returned to the stadium after around three hours. Later, participants were felicitated at the prize distribution ceremony,” said Sanjeev Kumar, senior vice-president (DDRWA), .

Noida authority officials said around 20 health department workers were also felicitated on the occasion. “The workers performed their duties besides actively participating in awareness drives to keep the city clean,” said SP Singh, deputy general manager (DGM), health department.

Gautam Budh Nagar forest department and SheWings (a personal care company working to educate men and women on women’s health and hygiene) too jointly launched a nature walk at the Okhla Bird Sanctuary to mark the day.

Divisional forest officer (DFO) Pramod Kumar Srivastava said, “Around 300 people participated in the nature walk at the OBS and later, a cleanliness drive was also carried out during which people picked up plastic waste from around the sanctuary.”

“We are going to start a huge plantation drive across the Okhla Bird Sanctuary to promote greenery,” said Amit Gupta, range officer.