It's a green pongala after all

Thiruvananthapuram: Few believed that the Green Protocol would be successful at Attukal Pongala, an event in which the number of devotees grows every year. The verdict is out. This time the Pongala is greener.

There were almost 2,200 people cleaning the city, which included Corporation employees as well as an additional 1,784 personnel. But they had very little disposable waste to deal with according to Mayor V K Prasanth. The Corporation collected 80 loads of waste, of which 10 loads were dry waste.

“Apart from boxes discarded by shopkeepers, there was very little disposable waste. I would call the Green Protocol campaign 80 per cent effective. That’s a good beginning,” he said on Tuesday afternoon.

The campaign, devised by Suchitwa Mission and Corporation, had requested that devotees donate steel plates and tumblers. Mission Executive Director K Vasuki said that around 10,000 tumblers and 3,500 plates could be collected, though in the first two days only close to 1000 tumblers and 500 plates were collected.

“This is one of our most successful campaigns. Most people carried their own steel plates and tumblers. In some cases, our volunteers intervened and provided them with green alternatives,” she said.