"CHILKUR TEMPLE SAYS NO 2 PLASTIC"

2day iv been 2 Chilkur Balaji temple know for its unique "hindu tradition" & "no vip darshan" & its really nice 2 know that the temple authorities banned the use of polythene in temple premises , coconuts are sold in eco friendly handloom bags .....

The scheme got all the encouragement from the State government and Apco which supplied the handloom scrap at

80 per cent subsidy for making the bags.

“The decision to meet the objectives of helping the traditional handloom weavers and doing our bit to protect environment by eliminating non bio-degradable plastic bags, evoked cooperation from devotees and vendors,” said temple hereditary trustee and Protection of Temples Movement convenor M.V.Soundar Rajan. Dr. Soundar Rajan said that over 100 vendors who sell ‘puja’ material on the temple premises switched over to handloom bags.

The temple attracts about 6,000 devotes on normal days and 15,000 to 20,000 devotees on week-ends and its annual consumption of handloom cloth is around two lakh metres.

Apart from Apco, the cloth is also sourced from Sircilla Handloom Weavers Society directly without any subsidy and is given to the ‘Mahila Pranganam’ members to stitch the bags.

If government extended the subsidy scheme to other cooperative societies, the cost of bags can be further brought down.