By Matters India Reporter
Patna, Oct 7, 2021: A Catholic priest on country wide bike mission to spread the message of peace and environmental protection on October 8 urged some students in Patna to make small sacrifices to keep their eastern Indian city clean.
“This sacrifice is expected from you. Even in the worship of God, there is an element of sacrifice,” Carmelite Prashant Palakkappilly told the students of Jesuit-managed St Xavier’s College of Management and Technology in the capital of Bihar state.
The priest, who set out from Kochi in Kerala on August 10, noted that the people of Bihar have “a very casual way” of dealing with plastic wastes. “Educate them on proper disposal of plastic waste so that it does not cause pollution,” added the 56- year-old former principal of Sacred Heart College Thevara in Kochi.
Father Prashant, as he is popularly known, has been travelling across the country on a motorcycle as part of his ‘Discovering Trust, Green, Peace on Indian Roads.”
He has so far travelled more than 10,000 km, working in solidarity with the Swachch Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign) and the Green Kerela Mission.
Stressing on need for clean water and sanitation, which he said were necessary for people to survive. “We need Swasthya Bharat (healthy India) along with a Swachch Bharat,” he added.
He urged the students not to buy beverages made by multinational companies that pollute their locality. “You should instead develop a taste for coconut water. This would also benefit the coconut producers,” he said.
Even Mahatma Gandhi had promoted the swadeshi khadi clothes, he said.