Chilika (the greatest brackish water lake) with thousands of people visiting everyday and its own local inhabitants produces a lot of garbage which is not properly disposed off and eventually finds its way into the lake. This project intends to create awareness and provide solutions to the problems faced by the environment due to plastic pollution. Plastic is a threat to the entire world and is a major reason for the extinction of a large number of species. We need to unite inorder to come up with measures to reduce the use of plastic and save the Chilika lake and the special Irrawaddy dolphins found here.

The main motive of the project is to reduce plastic usage by enaging with the schools,colleges and the local communities.For any project to suceed, the most imporant aspect is the support of the local community. We intend to educate the youth about the harmful effects of plastic who in turn will educate their families and the cycle continues. Awareness is the key to change. In order to change their wrong practices, the local community needs to understand the disadvantages of plastic and the need to stop its usage. It is rightly said that education is the most powerful weapon. We intend to educate the locals and create awareness to bring about the change. Gambhari is situated near Satapara & Chilika lake.We intend to work with a anchayat comprising of four villages and an average population of six thousand people.We have an objective to work with the young minds of villages who shall pivot the change. We intend to create an enthusiastic team comprising of school kids called "Chilika Junior Rangers".

The chilika junior rangers will play a vital role in shaping the community. We shall educate them about the adverse effects of plastic and further work with them to reduce the usage of single use plastic and the safe disposal of waste. Each junior ranger takes over the responsibilty of his/her own house and surroundings and ensures that it is clean. We shall conduct regular cleanliness drives, activities and meetings. So, as a first step, we visited gambhari and conducted a friendly interaction with the local students and tried to create awareness about making chilika plastic free and got a very positive response in return. The students were keen to bring about the change and we were served with alot of innovative ideas brought up by them. To understand the situation better, we spent a whole day in the village and gathered knowledge about the sources of plastic waste and means of its disposal. This is a completely student driven project and gambhari is a pilot project which will serve as a role model for other neighbouring villages. The chilika junior rangers shall protect the very existance of the greatest brackish water lake, chilika, which is at its closest to eutriphication.