Odisha: Berhampur ITI students create giant fish from plastic waste

Berhampur (Odisha): Students of Odisha government-run Industrial Training Institute (ITI) Berhampur have made a giant fish sculpture from plastic waste with an aim to reduce plastic pollution.

A 30-foot height and 1,500 kg weight fish sculpture was made by using iron scraps. Around 20,000 used plastic bottles of different sizes were collected by students, mostly from seashores. After filling, the weight of the sculpture was around 1,500 kg, said Rajat Panigrahy, Principal, ITI Berhampur.

The sculpture was installed near the institute’s campus for public view and to educate the people about plastic pollution with the objective of "Swachhata Hi Seva", he said.

"We have initiated this unique sculpture with the objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). Life below water, which emphasizes the crucial need to conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources, by preventing thousands of plastic bottles from entering landfills or potentially ending up in the oceans", said the principal.

He said plastic pollution is a major threat to aquatic ecosystems. Plastic debris entangles and harms marine life, disrupts food chains and pollutes the delicate ocean environment. By effectively up-cycling plastic bottles into an impactful art installation, the institute creates awareness about this critical issue, he added.

On Gandhi Jayanti, last year, the institute unveiled a 23-foot height elephant sculpture from 30,000 used plastic bottles, which won appreciation from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Earlier, the students of the institute had made sculptures like Dashavatar (10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu), Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subash Chandra Bose, former Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik, etc by using the discarded materials. All these sculptures have been installed in its open scrap park.

They had also made an idol of Sri Ganesh by using automobile scraps, which was installed in a park of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation.