Puri beach undergoes clean drive ahead of Men's Hockey World Cup

In an attempt to preserve the beautiful beach in Puri and also create awareness about the Hockey Men’s World Cup, thousands of Biju Yuva Vahini volunteers as well as officials of Sports and Youth Services and Tourism jointly organised a particular clean drive along the coast on Wednesday. The primary motive of the campaign was to spread the message of cleanliness in the build-up to the Men’s Hockey World Cup, which will be held in Bhuwaneshwar later this year. The success of an International tournament depends on how the host nation presents itself to the entire world. A neat and tidy host city will fetch good grades on the review sheet.

“With Hockey World Cup just a few months away, we would like to offer the best of the State to all the incoming teams and tourists from around the world,” said Vishal Dev, the secretary of Sports and Youth Services. The volunteers have been sweating it out from dawn to dusk and aiding the tourists and police personnel since Jagannath Rath Yatra began on July 14. In another development, the Odisha tourism officials educated the local communities about the harmful effects of plastic on the environment and drew their focus on eco-tourism. Chanchal Rana, the CEO of Biju Yuva Vahini was thrilled with the support shown for the initiative from all over the State. “It is so heartening to see in a very short span, the ‘Biju Yuva Vahini’ from all over the State proving their grit and spirit for the community and social service. They are truly a force to reckon with, and we are all proud of them. It’s an honour to work with these harbingers of change,” said Chanchal. The 2018 Men’s Hockey World Cup will be the 14^th edition of the tournament and will be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar from November 28 to December 16.