Young Zoologists Clean Sri Pada

‘‘Wesak Dansel" was common around the country in all cities and villages. Fried rice, Ice cream, Coffee, Kadala, pineapple, Manioc – you name it, Wesak dansal offered all them for free. But it was members’ own labor the Young Zoologists’ Association (YZA) offered on wesak day for a worthy environmental cause. Members of YZA climbed Sripada and brought down polythene and plastic items, that was piled up alone the path. The climb was never been easy and collecting the scattered items, bending frequently is hard. Climbing down the steps carrying heavy bags full of polythene and plastics are beyond the capacity of the tired knees of many. But the members of Young Zoologists driven by strong urge to clean this environmentally sensitive terrain dared the challenge.

Among the collected garbage, mega plastic bottles and wrappers were on top. “It is sad that there were lot of toffee wrappers thrown away, which can easily be put back into the pocket itself. These wrappers are not messy like lunch sheet and indeed not heavy” commented Pubudu weerarathne, president of YZA. Young Zoologists who are based at National Zoological Gardens initiated their Sripada cleaning campaign in 1998 becoming pioneers in highlighting this issue. They have conducted several cleaning programs and awareness campaigns at Sri Pada.