Green Team readies to turn the tide on plastic pollution in State

Wanaparthy: Green Team, a conservation group of outdoor enthusiasts from Wanaparthy has joined hands to establish plastic-free zones in the State. It has emerged to safeguard nature and keep it neat and orderly. They began this journey as a hobby, developed as a group and formed an NGO. The major objectives of the Green Team includes environmental protection, green initiatives and zero plastic motive. The team aims at engaging public and the government in cleanup campaigns to safeguard the environment and create a plastic free zone.

The first project conceived by the team is a cleaning drive at Tirumalayya Gutta, a sacred grove located close to Wanaparthy in Telangana. This grove has a Lord Venkateshwara temple on top of the hill. The place is surrounded by dry deciduous, and scrub forests as well as enormous rock boulders. As the team started to clean up the area, they collected close to 1280 kg of trash, including plastic, glass bottles, paper plates, and other items. The picked up trash was delivered to the municipal corporation for proper disposal.

Speaking to The Hans India, one of the team members, Divya Teja, said, "50 volunteers, 10 clean up drives, and 2 awareness sessions were put in by the team to clean up Tirumalayya Gutta. When we noticed people throwing plastic bottles, cigarette butts, alcohol bottles, and others, we took up an initiative of cleaning the place and invited our other friends to take part in this." The team conducted the clean up drive along with forest officials and school children.

Another team member, Krishna Sagar, founder of the team, said, "As Tirumalayya Gutta is located on the hillock, tourists visit this place for recreation, and they cook and drink, and the plastic gets accumulated in this area." The team urges the public not to throw plastic waste on the hill, and if the waste is generated, they need to take it back home and throw it in the dustbin. They also request the government to arrange a tollgate near the entrance of the hill and not allow any plastic items and take steps to prohibit single use plastic.