HYDERABAD: At Osmania University, lessons in environmental conservation are extending beyond classrooms. On Saturday, staff and students removed nearly 300 kg of plastic waste — including single-use bags, PET bottles and multilayered packaging — from the lake bed in the campus Landscape Garden.

The clean-up marked the third phase of the lake bed restoration drive. According to OU officials, it involved an intensive operation to remove plastic waste accumulated on the lake bed and surrounding areas. The waste, comprising single-use plastics and other synthetic debris, was manually segregated and cleared. It has been shifted to a designated collection point and will be handed over to GHMC for scientific disposal.

Officials said the drive achieved 100% coverage of the lake bed and about 80% of the surrounding area, with the remaining peripheral zones to be taken up in subsequent phases.

Prof C Srinivasulu, director, Gardens, Green Belt and Sanitation, OU, said, “Another round of cleaning will be taken up soon with the same commitment to achieve complete and lasting remediation.”