There are signs that around Kapaleeshwar temple, flowers, coconuts and fruits may cease to be placed in flimsy plastic covers while they are offered for an archanai.
Last week, during the three-day Sivarathri festival, Kapaleecharam Committee, a federation of residents under the aegis of Mylapore Residents Welfare Association, started an ambitious project to stop the use of plastic covers and encourage the use of cloth and leaf bags in their place.
Along with NCC cadets and scouts, members of the Committee marched through the Mada streets up to Luz Corner to spread the message.
Street hawkers and flower vendors were briefed about the project and asked to not use plastic bags while selling products.
“We started our campaign to make Mylapore plastic-free during Sivarathri as that is the time when most Mylaporeans gather at one place and that is when our reach would be more effective,” says K. Viswanathan, one of the core members of Kapaleecharam Committee and secretary of Mylapore Residents Welfare Association.
Students from institutions like CSI Higher Secondary, Sivaswami Kalalaya and DAV took part in the rally.
Later, officials of Greater Chennai Corporation, residents and the police department held joint discussions on how to make the Mada streets pedestrian-friendly.
“In groups of three, members of the committee visited the shops and talked to the flower vendors. We also handed out banana leaves so that they would be used instead of plastic covers,” says K.L. Bala, a member of Kapaleecharam Committee and a member of the Thiruveedhi Amman Koil Street Residents Association.
He says talks are in progress with temple authorities to prevent devotees from bringing plastic bags to the temple.
Alternatives, including mandarai , banana leaves and paper bags, were distributed to all vendors by Exnora Green Pammal in collaboration with ITC’s Mangaldeep Green Temple initiative.
Around 500 paper bags, 10,000 banana leaves and 12 kilos of Mandarai leaves were distributed during the three days of Sivarathri. “We plan to work with a women’s self-help group based in Thiruvottiyur to provide the shops with mandarai leaves that have been stitched together and are big enough to hold flowers in them. Also, in a few months’ time, we plan to open a small shop near the temple which will sell all kinds of eco-friendly bags,” says Shankar, a resident of Ranga Road.
For more details, visit Facebook page @kapaleecharam or call Viswanathan at 99529 60354, Balasubramanian at 98404 41803, Ganga Sridhar at 99400 56069 or Uma Shivkumar at 988403 32182.
