Telugu 'green' woman to represent India at UN forum

Deepika Tadi, a green warrior and a resident of Sakhinetipalli Mandal Antarvedi in East Godavari district, has been accorded a rare honour. Come the World Oceans Day on June 8, she will address selected delegates from across the world during an online conference organised by the United Nations (UN).

East Godavari (Andhra Pradesh): Deepika Tadi, a green warrior and a resident of Sakhinetipalli Mandal Antarvedi in East Godavari district, has been accorded a rare honour. Come the World Oceans Day on June 8, she will address selected delegates from across the world during an online conference organised by the United Nations (UN).

The news was announced by Green Worms, a waste management company headquartered in Kerala's Kozhikode, where Deepika is a member.

Green Worms in association with Smart Village Movement, an organisation that claims to foster growth and empower rural communities in India through the employment of digital technologies, launched the 'Zero Waste-Antarvedi' project in East Godavari's Antarvedi village to control pollution. In this initiative, Deepika and four other women were made members of Green Worms with the aim of collecting plastic waste from coastal areas and temples among other places, besides preventing pollution.

As part of a project 'United Nations World Oceans Day', members of Green Worms sent the UN a video of the same with a speech by Deepika on coastal pollution prevention, biodiversity survival and fishermen's livelihood. After examining entries from various countries, the UN selected a total of 30 people, including Deepika. On Tuesday, she will represent India on the global platform.

Deepika will share the story of her village working collectively to mitigate ocean plastic as part of the 'Antarvedi Zero-Waste Initiative'.

The programme is hosted by the UN Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs, in partnership with Oceanic Global.