India: PM Modi goes 'plogging' on Mamallapuram beach
Let us ensure our public places are clean and tidy, he tweeted along with the video
Mamallapuram: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in Tamil Nadu for an informal summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, was on Saturday seen cleaning up a beach by picking up plastic litter and other waste during his morning walk.
On Twitter, Modi released a three-minute video, which showed him collecting the waste as he walked barefoot on the sand, and urged people to ensure that public places are clean and tidy.
“Plogging at a beach in Mamallapuram this morning. It lasted for over 30 minutes. Also handed over my 'collection' to Jeyaraj, who is a part of the hotel staff.
“Let us ensure our public places are clean and tidy! Let us also ensure we remain fit and healthy,” he tweeted.
Plogging is a term used for picking up trash such as used plastic bottles while jogging or running.
In another tweet, Modi said:”Refreshing walk and exercises in Mamallapuram, along the scenic coast.”
During his speech on Independence Day this year, Modi had announced a campaign to make the country free of single-use plastic.
The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan for a clean India, launched in 2014, has been his pet programme.
Tagging the PM's video, BJP president and Home Minister Amit Shah said: "A true leader leads by example. We are grateful to PM Narendra Modi ji for his untiring efforts towards cleanliness.'
"Let us further his resolve for a Swachh and Samruddha Bharat," Shah said in a tweet.
In his Mann ki Baat radio programme last month, Prime Minister Modi had hailed the efforts of India's perhaps first 'plogger' Ripudaman Belvi who has launched a campaign to pick up litter while jogging.
Modi had said that while plogging is in use in foreign countries, in India Belvi has promoted it to a great extent.
Earlier this week, Modi termed plogging as "win-win because it improves fitness and the environment".
In a tweet, he had lauded an initiative that involved a social experiment in Mumbai based on plogging to raise awareness on cleanliness.
"More power to such volunteering efforts, especially because they connect with our youth," he had said.