A 69-year-old man, paralyzed below his knees, routinely cleans plastic wastes from a lake in southern India’s Kerala.

Visuals shot on February 2 at the Vembanad Lake at Kumarakom in Kottayam city feature the local's determination towards the environment.

Visuals witnessing the incident features the man attempting to board his boat. He elegantly drags his body towards it and climbs onto it. He remains stationed on his craft with the plastic waste he collected. He sits beside heaps of plastic bottles while holding an oar and rows across the lake.

The 69-year-old man, identified as NS Rajappan, lives in Manjanikkara in the Kottayam district. He has been cleaning the lakes in the region for over six years and mainly collects plastic bottles dumped in the water. He sells the collected plastic to a local agency for a living. Rajappan took up the job voluntarily since he could not bear the sight of the lake near his house turning into a polluted swamp.

Rajappan got poliomyelitis when he was a child that subsequently paralyzed his legs. One of the reasons he chose this job is because it is easy for him to row the boat rather than moving through roads. He spends his day collecting waste for a living as well as to save the environment.

When the country went under the pandemic-induced lockdown, Rajappan expressed his happiness over the fact that it meant less plastic waste being dumped into water bodies despite caring about a cut in his income.

The Prime Minister of the country, Narendra Modi, recently lauded Rajappan and recognized his efforts. He expressed his admiration towards Rajappan's commitment and urged the citizens to maintain cleanliness in the environment. Moreover, Erik Solheim, associated with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), also recognized Rajappan for his untiring solo efforts to maintain cleanliness in the surroundings.