Hindu veneration to Panchabhutas.

Three NGOs submit detailed report on the plastic Waste to TTD; EO to take immediate action;

“Verily, the whole world is the body of God.”  Vishnu Purana 1.12.38

Earth, in which lie the sea, the river, and other waters,
in which food and cornfields have come to be,
in which live all that breathes and that moves,
may she confer on us the finest of her yield….

Set me, O Earth, amidst what is thy center and thy navel,
and vitalizing forces that emanate from thy body.
Purify us from all sides. Earth is my Mother; her son am I;
and Heaven my Father: may he fill us with plenty….

Atharva Veda 12.1

Sri Kamal Kumar Swami of Hindu Devalaya Parirakshana Samithi, Sri D. R Narendra of TTD Parirakshana Samithi, and Narra Munichandra and A. Subramnayam of Praja Front toured, studied and inspected the practice of plastics disposal on the Seven Hills of Tirumala, where the most sacred Lord Venkateshwara Temple is located. Following their inspection, realizing the damage the disposal of plastics is causing to the seven hills, earth, water, air, trees, health of the devotees and ecological imbalance, they submitted a ten-page report with all the details of their investigation to the Executive Officer of TTD along with a number of recommendations.

            As a way of background we want to inform that about 4 years ago TTD has given a contract to Mohindra and Mohindra Company to dispose of all the plastics either by recycling certain types of plastics or dispose of all non-recyclable plastics in a manner that would not affect the ecology of Seven Hills. Also the company agreed to process the biodegradable items so that the manure can be used as fertilizers. According to the three NGOs mentioned above, the company employed hundreds of people to collect all the water bottled, plastic bags and other items going around the hills. According to the contract no payment will be made to the Company. The company did it as voluntary service to the Temple. The Company used to take all the plastics from all the hills and take them out without leaving any wastage on the hills. In fact they used incur loss in this operation.

            After Sri Adikesavulu Naidu was appointed as Chairman of Trust Board of TTD, he cancelled the contract with Mohindra and Mohindra Company and gave it to one of his benefactor by the name Kiran Royal.  Instead of employing people to collect all the plastics, Kiran Royal is using the TTD employees to collect the plastics making TTD to incur several lakhs of rupees every month.  He also stopped collecting biodegradable items leaving them on the hills as an eyesore for the pilgrims. Further, instead of taking plastic wastage away from the hills and dispose them properly, he was piling up all the wastage on the hills. These NGO leaders also noticed the employees of TTD burning the plastic wastage on the hills causing thick smoke covering the hills area.  They also felt the pungent smell of the burning of these plastics. During rainy season, the residues of the burned plastic waste are going to spread around and down the hills affecting the trees, plants, rivers and the water causing untold damage to the ecological serenity of the hills.

            On February 4, 2011 the three NGOs submitted a detailed report to EO of TTD who was very sympathetic to their study and their recommendations to alleviate the disposal problem. He agreed with their assessment and promised to look into a permanent solution to the issue. Since the submission of the report, EO inspected the disposal practices to take proper action.

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