The Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Andhra Pradesh has taken a prime initiative towards a green future. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the temple, has teamed up with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to develop biodegradable bags which will be used to sell the mahaprasadam laddu, officials said.
A committed sale counter has been established by the TTD near the laddu counters situated adjacent to the Tirumala temple where the devotees can initially purchase these bags before moving to the counters to buy the prasadam.
Detailing about the initiative, DRDO chairman Satish Reddy said, “Our Advanced Systems Laboratory in Hyderabad has been doing a lot of research and inventing ways to find the best environmental friendly replacement for hazardous plastic. To minimise single-use plastic, we have come out with these eco-friendly bags made of starch corn which degrades naturally within 90 days. It is also not harmful even if cattle consume them. After detailed research and rigorous testing of the formula, we have come out with these bags for Tirumala.”
It is an important move by the TTD to migrate to biodegradable bags as a new initiative. The body was one of the largest distributors of single-use plastic covers till 2019. In the slab of 2014 to 2018, TTD incurred and distributed around 9.63 crore polythene laddu covers to the devotees.
The newly formed TTD board headed by Chairman, YV Subba Reddy realised that this trust can certainly cause severe damage to the environment if it keeps using polythene laddu covers for prasad distribution. Addressing the harmful effects of polythene bags, Satish Reddy, said, “Usually conventional polyethene bags made from petrochemicals are toxic to the environment and take nearly 200 years to degrade. In contrast, these bags would be offered as a sustainable, cost-effective and ocean-safe alternative to such plastic products.”
“Products like these are essential for the survival of mankind. After observing the response from the pilgrims for a few days, we are planning to commence its sales in a full-fledged manner,” said TTD EO Dr KS Jawahar Reddy.
