On Nov. 2-3, 1,500 Embracing the World volunteers participated in a two-day clean-up of Sabarimala and Pampa in Kerala. This is our sixth such clean-up of one of the worlds most popular pilgrimage destinations in the past four years. This time, our volunteers cleaned up a 50-kilometer stretch of the forest road as well. Deep into the forest on both sides of the road the ground is littered with plastic thrown away by the pilgrims. When the pilgrims throw food waste wrapped in plastic, elephants and other other wild animals eat the food and plastic both. Forest officers say this is often fatal to the animals, with post-mortem reports revealing intestines clogged with plastic. In many places, volunteers had to use ladders and ropes to descend into the forest, since the hill road is a few meters above the forest ground. Ammas volunteers happily braved leeches and other risks and unpleasantries in order to achieve their goal of making the forest safe for wildlife again, clearing the area of plastic and other litter. Further, M.A. Math has presented a master plan to the state government for a sustainable system to be implemented to permanently resolve persistent waste management issues in both Pampa and Sabarimala.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 23:45:35 +0000