AWANTIPORA, MAY 30: As a pre-cursor to World Environment Day 2025 celebrations scheduled for 5th of June, 2025, the Department of Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change, IUST, in collaboration with the Department of Ecology, Environment & Remote Sensing, J&K Government, Municipal Committee, Tral, and Municipal Committee, Awantipora town, organized a series of awareness programmes under the national theme “One Nation, One Mission – End Plastic Pollution.”
The programmes included an inter-university painting competition, in which students from SKUAST-Kashmir, Cluster University Srinagar, Kashmir University, and IUST translated their creative expressions on the evils of plastic pollution onto canvas. This was followed by an inter-university debate in the afternoon session, where students from these universities discussed the harms of plastic pollution and the way forward in alignment with this year’s selected theme.
Additionally, a mass cleanliness drive was kick-started by Professor Abdul Wahid Makhdoomi, Registrar, in the presence of Rafi Ahmad Bhat, Regional Director (K), DEERS; Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Awantipora; Professor Humayun Rashid; Sameer Wazir, Finance Officer; Dr. S. Iqbal Qureshi, Deputy Registrar (Estates); Dr. Asifa Mehraj Baba, Dean of Students, IUST; Dr. Sumaira Nazir Zaz, Coordinator, DESCC; Dr. Dharam Chand, Coordinator, Biodiversity & Aromatic Park; Dr. Yasir Altaf, Assistant Professor; Dr. Zubair Dar, Assistant Professor; and other faculty members and staff of the Estates Wing of the University.
The activity witnessed active participation from students, faculty members, school children, and staff of the Municipal Committee, Awantipora, generating mass awareness for collective action against plastic waste.
All these events reflected IUST’s strong commitment towards promoting environmental responsibility in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.