THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : In a move to make the elections green, a decision was taken to conduct the elections in an environment-friendly manner across the state. Both the Haritha Keralam Mission and the Suchitwa Mission have issued guidelines for the same. Green Protocol will be followed in the polling stations, aimed at reducing waste and the generation of the non-biodegradable wastes.
"Facilitation centres have been set up at all levels- district, block, taluk and panchayat so that there is no violation on the part of the candidates,” said R Ajaykumar Verma, director of Suchitwa Mission. As per the directive, all the parties and candidates were refrained from using single-use plastic material in their campaigns.
Through various awareness programmes, candidates were instructed to avoid PVC flex boards and other plastic materials for campaigning. In order to implement a green election, the Green Army International and the Municipal Corporation inspectors have brought out an initiative where they are bringing together innovative and like-minded people to decorate election material distribution centres and counters using biodegradable materials.
Four centres have been identified - Government GHSS, Manacaud, Loyola School, Sreekaryam, Sri Swathi Thirunal College of Music and St Mary's School, Pattom. “ We had a meeting of the volunteers where we discussed how to implement the Green Protocol. For the elections, we have decided to replace flex boards with palm leaves. Similarly, for the sign boards, we will be using paper material,” said Nandini M S, a green army volunteer.
Besides using the decorations that are environment-friendly, volunteers plan to stick messages in the polling stations that will focus on using eco-friendly materials and will be promoting the use of cloth bags. Food provided in the polling stations will be served in eco-friendly plates and glasses at the centres. The Green Army International volunteers plan to start the decoration works from Sunday where they have invited suggestions from volunteers to make the elections green.