Jamshedpur: The undulating curves of the Dalma is perhaps the best part of Jamshedpur's skyline. Yet, trekkers and visitors to Dalma hills, some 30km from the city, often find the way strewn with discarded polythene bags, chips and biscuit packets and bottles, spoiling the natural beauty of the place that is also a wildlife sanctuary.

On Sunday, a team from the newly formed Jamshedpur Adventure Club decided to make a difference. Thirty volunteers of the club undertook a Swachh Dalma Campaign to collect 52kg of waste from the scenic hills.

The club members, including eight women, all carrying sacks and wearing gloves, huffed and puffed the winding hilly track up to Pinderbera guesthouse, a height of 1,900 feet, to collect trash from 6am to 10.30am. The tiring effort yielded 2kg more trash than the 50kg they had targeted originally.

"I think it was a worthy effort by our members," said Sanjay Thakur, founder-convenor of the club. "We should treat Dalma hills as our natural heritage. And when everyone enjoys the beauty of the hills, it is the duty of everybody to keep the hills and its environment clean," he said.

According to him, club members had earlier gone to Dalma to perform puja at the Shiva temple located on the top of the hill when the sight of the wastes affected them tremendously.

"We saw everything, from plastic bags and empty bottles to even shoes and what not. We felt something must be done and hence decided to undertake a campaign to clean the hill," Thakur said.

Sunday's campaign was planned and led by the club's members, mountaineers Alok Dubey and Deepak Shah. Operating in groups, the team collected discarded paper plates, plastic bags and old shoes. The trash was brought down the hill in sacks for handing over to Jusco waste management department.

Dubey said they would undertake similar campaigns at Dalma hills in phases. "We have plans to undertake further cleanliness campaign with support from Jusco and East Singhbhum district administration," he said. "It is like a picnic on a mission."

The Mango-based club is also busy in its Save Subernarekha Campaign. On June 18 early morning, they performed an aarti of the Subernarekha and started a cleanliness mission of the river and its banks. "Cleaning Subernarekha is also something we are extremely passionate about," Thakur said. "We also plan to start cleaning Dimna Lake soon."

Formed on May 18 this year with six members, the club's membership has increased to 30. Thakur says all are "like-minded" people, including professionals, climbers and social workers.

Do you think such swachh campaigns should be held at other tourist spots as well? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com