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Vijaywada: In an attempt to turn Vijaywada single-use plastic free, the Kanaka Durga Indrakeeladri temple has banned the use of plastic bags and covers within its premises.
The famous temple located on the Indrakeeladri hill, on the banks of Krishna River has issued strict guidelines for the devotees visiting the temple, asking them to avoid bringing plastic covers into the temple.
Temple authorities have also fixed a fine that would be levied upon anyone not following the guidelines.
Environmental activists have been working for a long time on eliminating the grave threa of plastic from the area. Government authorities and NGOs in Vijaywada have also been striving hard to make the area platic-free.
The Kanak Durga temple is one of the most crowded areas of the city and witnesses a large number of devotees daily.
An even larger crowd throngs the temple at the time of fectivals and public holidays, thus leading to more use of plastic during these days.
Most of the devotees bring puja items in plastic bags. But from now on, only cloth bags will be permitted inside the temple premise.
When Koteswaramma was the Executive Officer of the temple, she directed the temple staff to make cloth bags out of the cloth offered to Goddess Durga. But this initiative burnt a hole in the temple fund’s pockets.
The current Executive Officer Suresh Babu, however, has already ordered for sufficient number of cloth bags in advance.
He has assured that a complete plastic ban would be implemented and has even issued orders to the vendors in the temple premises to not sell plastic bags.
On the 5th floor of the Maha Mandapam, puja accesories are sold. The vendors there, have already stopped avoiding the use of plastic in their shops.
This effort of the temple authorities, vendors and devotees towards making Vijayawada single-use plastic-free is definitely said to prove beneficial on the long run.
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Location: Vijayawada
Andhra Pradesh
VO: In an attempt to turn Vijayawada single-use plastic free, the Kanaka Durga Indrakeeladri temple has banned the use of plastic bags and covers within its premises.
GFX: Plastic ban in Kanaka Durga temple
VO: The famous temple located on the Indrakeeladri hill, on the banks of Krishna River has issued strict guidelines for the devotees, asking them to avoid bringing plastic covers into the temple.
GFX: Strict guidelines for devotess
VO: Temple authorities have also fixed a fine that would be levied upon anyone not following the guidelines.
GFX: Fines fixed for violaters
VO: Environmental activists, along with government officials and NGOs have been striving hard to make the area free of this grave threat of single-use plastic.
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Byte: Suresh Babu, Temple EO
0.02 - 0.31
We are implementing plastic ban in the temple premises and we are sending the message through flexi banners, media and on-spot announcements. We are requesting the devotees to not carry any plastic bags onto the Indrakeeladri hill.
If anyone violates this, the concerned vigilance team will take appropriate action.
0.36 - 0.40
We are using bio-degradable covers for distributing 'prasad'.
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GFX: Environmental-friendly efforts
VO: The Kanak Durga temple is one of the most crowded spots of the city and witnesses a large number of devotees daily. An even larger crowd throngs the temple at the time of fectivals and public holidays, thus leading to more use of plastic during these days.
GFX: More crowd, more plasctic
VO: Most of the devotees bring puja items in plastic bags. But from now on, only cloth bags will be permitted inside the temple premise.
GFX: Use of cloth bags
VO: When Koteswaramma was the Executive Officer of the temple, she directed the temple staff to make cloth bags out of the cloth offered to Goddess Durga. But this initiative burnt a hole in the temple fund’s pockets.
GFX: Failed idea
VO: The current Executive Officer Suresh Babu, however, has already ordered for sufficient number of cloth bags in advance.
GFX: Prevention is better than cure
VO: He has assured that a complete plastic ban would be implemented and has even issued orders to the vendors in the temple premises to not sell plastic bags.
VO: On the 5th floor of the Maha Mandapam, puja accesories are sold. The vendors there, have already stopped avoiding the use of plastic in their shops.
GFX: Support from vendors
VO: This effort of the temple authorities, vendors and devotees towards making Vijayawada single-use plastic-free is definitely said to prove beneficial in the long run.
GFX: Baby steps towards a bigger goal
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Suresh Babu, Temple EO
0.02 - 0.31
We are implementing plastic ban in the temple premises and we are sending the message through flexi banners, media and on-spot announcements. We are requesting the devotees to not carry any plastic bags onto the Indrakeeladri hill.
If anyone violates this, the concerned vigilance team will take appropriate action.
0.36 - 0.40
We are using bio-degradable covers for distributing 'prasad'.
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Indrakeeladri is doing its part in achieving a plastic-free Vijayawada. The Durga Malleswara temple has banned the usage of plastic covers and bags within the premises. They have issued strict guidelines to the devotees visiting the temple, asking them not to bring plastic covers. If anyone is found using plastic covers in the temple premises, a fine would be levied upon them.
Disposable plastics are a grave threat to the nature. Environmental activists have been working towards banning single use plastics for a long time now. Vijayawada’s government officials along with NGOs are striving hard to make the city plastic-free.
Durga Malleswara temple is one of the highly crowded areas in the city. Large number of devotees visit the place every day. During public holidays and festivals, devotees throng the temple. Consequently, the usage of plastic bags is also more during these occasions.
Devotees bring puja related items in plastic bags. The temple officials have now banned such plastic covers and passed a rule that going forward, only cloth bags will be allowed.
When Koteswaramma was the Executive Officer of the temple, she directed the temple staff to make cloth bags out of the cloth that was revered to the goddess. But this initiative burnt a hole in the temple fund’s pockets.
The current Executive Officer Suresh Babu said that they have already ordered a large number of cloth bags in advance. He assured that a complete plastic ban would be implemented. He even issued orders to the vendors in the temple premises to not sell plastic bags. He urged the devotees to comply with these guidelines. He said that a fine would be levied upon those who violate these rules.
In the 5th floor of Maha Mandapam, the puja accessories are being sold. The vendors have already supported the plastic ban. They said that they will use only cloth bags in order to help Vijayawada go plastic-free. The temple officials and devotees are optimistic that the current plastic ban would prove beneficial over the long run.
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