Kanaka Durga temple in Vijaywada says 'no to plastic'

In an attempt to turn Vijaywada single-use plastic-free, the famous Kanaka Durga Indrakeeladri temple has issued strict guidelines for 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.

Vijayawada: In an attempt to turn the temple hill single-use plastic-free, the Kanaka Durga Indrakeeladri temple here 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 threat of plastic from the area. Government authorities and NGOs in Vijayawada have also been striving hard to make the area plastic-free.

The Kanak Durga temple is one of the most crowded areas of the city and witnesses a large number of devotees daily.

During the time of festivals and public holidays, an even larger crowd throngs the temple, 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 a 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 accessories 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 in the long run.