HYDERABAD: Telangana has been blessed with natural beauty, but owing to human intervention, several of these sites have fallen victim to neglect and ever-increasing pollution. While the task to bring these sites back to their heydays is no easy task, Green Team, a Wanaparthy-based conservation group, wants to brave the insurmountable odds and take measures to make the world cleaner and the district free from plastic pollution.
The team of nature enthusiasts began their journey with weekly cleaning drives at Tirumalayya Gutta, a sacred grove with huge rock boulders, and soon moved on to restoring the Garuda Pushkarini, a stepwell which was built in 1868.
Speaking to TNIE, Krishnath Sagar, founder of Green Team, says, “Tirumalayya Gutta is located in the forest range limits and offers beautiful views from the top. However, as the locals and villagers living around cook and drink on the hillock, a lot of plastic waste had accumulated in the area.”
“We started the cleaning drive at Tirumalayya Gutta on a Sunday as a one-day recreational activity but soon realised that it would require more time. So over the next few weeks, we conducted multiple drives with schoolchildren and forest officials. As a result, we were able to clean up to 80 per cent of the waste in the area,” he adds.
He says though the authorities have declared it a plastic-free zone, the officials don’t have any interest in implementing zone rules, nor does the public care.
“However, we realised that people just need a push,” Sagar mentions, adding that many people have joined and contributed, in many ways, to the initiative after learning about their cleaning drives.
Their work has garnered appreciation from the public and has even caught the attention of Additional District Collector Ashish Sangwan, who started the initiative to drain out the polluted water from the stepwell with the help of civic body authorities in the Rajamahal area of Wanaparthy.
While for a lot of people, these sights offer tourism value, many of the team members have grown up listening to the lore and stories attached to these sites.
A team member, Divya P, says, “I have a lot of fond memories connected to Garuda Pushkarini. During my childhood, we used to walk around the stepwell and spot different types of fish and other aquatic animals such as turtles. However, it was filled with weeds, tree branches, liquor bottles, puja material such as coconut shells and plastic bottles among other things.”
She informs that they began the project with five members. While the prospect of restoring the historic stepwell seemed too big, they kept at it and with the help of a few other volunteers, they were able to clean 60 per cent of the stepwell in a month, she adds. “For the remaining 40 per cent, we require skilled labour and will to flush out the accumulated water with cranes, which requires additional funding,” Divya says.
“When we read its history, we got to know that the water from the stepwell used to be utilised for household purposes and even drinking. By cleaning it up, we want to revive it heritage and make it usable for people,” she says.
Official recognition
Green Team’s efforts have garnered appreciation from the public and has even caught the attention of Additional District Collector Ashish Sangwan
Many people have joined and contributed, in many ways, to the initiative after learning about their cleaning drives, says Krishnath Sagar, founder of Green Team