Climate activist Licypriya Kangujam praises Agra officials for clearing waste from Yamuna banks

Climate activist Licypriya Kangujam on Saturday lauded Agra authorities for clearing plastic waste from the banks of the Yamuna river behind the Taj Mahal.

The 10-year-old activist from Manipur also shared on Twitter photos from her visits to the river bank last month and on Saturday.

In the photo from her last month's visit, Kangujam is seen standing amidst plastic waste and holding a placard reading "Behind the beauty of Taj Mahal is plastic pollution". In the photo from her visit on Saturday, the young activist is seen flashing the victory sign with no garbage around.

Talking to PTI, Kangujam said, "When I first visited the Taj Mahal, I found plastic bottles and single-use plastic waste lying in the garden, fountains and its surroundings. When I visited the banks of the Yamuna river behind the Taj Mahal... I found plastic bottles and wrappers lying there. I was shocked to see that people had littered the most iconic monument of the world."

"I wanted to give a message to the people of the entire world that 'behind the beauty of Taj Mahal is plastic pollution'. I tweeted this message and got immense support from people all over the world. Authorities launched a cleanliness drive after my tweet," she said.

"On Saturday, I visited the banks of Yamuna behind the Taj Mahal and was so happy to see that the plastic waste that was lying there during my first visit about 10 days ago was almost entirely cleared due to the efforts of the local authorities.

Also watch: Irked flyer creates a 'bomb scare' at Kochi airport, arrested

"I appreciate the swift action," she added.

Kangujam underlined that this change should be permanent and not be short-lived.

After Kangujam's tweet in June about the waste lying at the banks of Yamuna, the Agra Municipal Corporation (AMC) had fined the concerned sanitation company Rs 1 lakh for not keeping the premises clean.

A special cleanliness drive was launched on June 29 to make the Taj Mahal plastic-free. The drive will go on till July 3.