It was a race with a difference with the winners decided by the quantity of plastic waste collected by the participants.
Conducted by the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) on Sunday as part of its Swachh Survekshan 2020 drive, the runners rushed in to swoop up plastic trash on roads and sidewalks, collected it in sacks and moved along to complete the course.
The ‘Mysuru Maha Ploggathon’ was flagged of by former cricketer Javagal Srinath and humorist Krishne Gowda. It as the first such endeavour in the city that evoked a good response with hundreds of participants.
The concept originated in Sweden with people picking up plastic waste while they jogged and is now a trend across the world and part of the environmental movement.
Participants had to opt for one of the three routes – each 3 km long. The race was flagged off from Kote Anjaneyaswamy temple. One group headed towards J.C. Circle and Gun House while the second headed towards K.R. Circle and the D. Devaraj Urs Road. The third raced to Silver Jubilee Clock Tower and Ashoka Road and all of them converged at Town Hall at the end .
Every participant was given a cloth bag to collect trash. MCC authorities weighed the waste and Mayur, a resident of Agrahara, was declared the winter as he had picked up 2.3 kg of garbage. MCC Health Officer D.G. Nagaraj said that in all, nearly two tonnes of plastic waste was collected.
Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath, MCC Commissioner Gurudutt Hegde, Health Officer Jayanth and others were present.
