Waste collected during the clean-up drive at Madiwala Lake on Sunday.
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Bengaluru: The Indian Ploggers Army, an environmental conservation organisation, conducted a lake cleaning drive at Madiwala Lake on Sunday, collecting over 20 bags of trash.
The initiative was carried out in partnership with the BBMP, NMIT students, and Bengaluru Hudugaru. Around 40 volunteers participated in the event, with the trash collected handed over to the BBMP.
The term "plogging", which originated in Sweden, combines the verbs plocka upp (pick up) and jogga (jog), creating the new Swedish verb plogga.
Plogman Raj (Nagaraj), the founder of the Indian Ploggers Army, mentioned that the group organises lake cleanups every weekend across Bengaluru. "We collaborate with the BBMP and other like-minded citizens to clean up and provide a positive update on what's happening on the ground," he said.
Raj highlighted the lack of a proper system to manage waste around lakes. "It is a collective failure — if one agency is functioning properly while another isn’t, it leads to issues," he said.
He also stressed on the urgent need to properly manage lakes, warning that without immediate action, water hyacinth could overgrow and worsen the situation for both residents and the BBMP. "Our goal is to volunteer and make a difference, but without systems in place, larger changes won't occur," Raj added.
Next up
The Indian Ploggers Army will next be cleaning Chunchaghatta Lake this weekend. Those interested in volunteering can reach out through the organisation’s social media platforms.