Safeguarding mother nature

Bharata Mata College, Thrikkakara, was adjudged the best college under the category ‘social innovators’ at Women 2020 international conference held at Bolgatty Palace, Kochi. The college was selected for the award in recognition of the year-long project taken up by the Department of English to preserve mother earth with an aim of beating the menace of plastic pollution and sensitising the youth towards the immediacy of actions to be taken to recycle the plastic bottles sensibly.

They started off the project with the cleaning of Fort Kochi beach and the initiative to dispense plastic waste had been forged ahead by taking up #IChallenge PlasticBottleCampaign initiated by Fr Davis Chirammel, founder of the Kidney Foundation of India. They collected 544 kg of pet bottles as part of the campaign, which were recycled effectively.  These innovative attempts aimed at safeguarding nature were carried out under the auspices of the Department of English at the college. Meanwhile, Ms Lissy Kachapilly, head of the Department, was honoured at the Women 2020 conference with an award for the best teacher considering her valuable guidance and inspirational initiatives for the cause. Novel environmental protection precepts like green protocol and green audit, implemented in the college as a result of the environmental concerns initiated by college manager Rev. Fr Jacob G. Palakkappilly were also taken into consideration.

Chrysalis, an intercollegiate fest for a social cause by the postgraduate department of English, BMC, plays a big role in spreading the message. Chrysalis, which began in 2016, was supported by Mr Mathew Antony, an alumnus of the English Department and the director of a  Magazine, who let the wings fly in the toddling years of the fest.

Chrysalis ‘19 endorses the theme From Ashes to Diamonds, aiming to bring out the spark in every individual. Moreover, the plastic ashes were converted to diamonds through recycling and the money generated was used to make a livelihood for a flood-affected family from Varapuzha. These activities of the college had indeed offered a moment of magical metamorphosis of the students as well and this made Bharata Mata College the winner of the award.

Dr Shiny Palatty, principal of the college, along with the teachers and students of the English department received the award from Tanya Abraham, founder of The Art Outreach Society.