Visakhapatnam: Pedalling away to 'say no to plastic'

Visakhapatnam: The slogan 'say no to plastic' has been intensified by Bonthu Sampath Venkat Sai Mukesh by embarking on a bicycle expedition from Visakhapatnam to Kanyakumari. After wrapping up the 1,800-km long expedition that continued from February 21 to March 15, Sampath shares his experience with The Hans India.With the plastic menace growing at an alarming rate, Sampath says that the adventure aimed at doing his bit to control the plastic pollution.

"My friends mentioned that they could not join the adventure when I shared my idea with them as they found pedalling away to such long distances would be tiresome," recalls Sampath.However, the BA second year student of Dr LankapalliBullayya College says that support came from his parents and college management.

"From 8:30 am to 5 pm, I used to cover over 100-km a day. Making pit stops at major cities, I could rest well before proceeding further," Sampath explains.

Although the initial two days were bit challenging for him as he experienced body pains, Sampath says that he could pull the trip off with determination and grit. "I did not get proper food at some places during my journey.

However, there was no major challenge as such to dissuade me from moving forward," he added.His expedition was uploaded on social media platforms which received encouraging response from the netizens.

"I used to interact with the locals, explained the impact of plastic meance and urged them to shun the use of plastic covers. There were people waiting for me to interact and take a selfie and it was indeed very encouraging," Sampath conveys.

Being a travel enthusiast, Sampath says that he would like to take up similar expeditions in future for a social cause.

After completing his expedition, Mayor G Hari Venkata Kumari lauded the efforts of Sampath and encouraged him to take up the message way forward.