Tirupati: Despite a complete blanket ban on the usage of plastic at the abode of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala, people still continue to use plastic and polythene bags, unmindful of the consequences that have led to Tirumala hills turning into a dumping yard for plastic.
Though the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is struggling to end the menace, an indiscriminate use of plastic seems to be rising alarmingly as shopkeepers and hoteliers still use plastic carry bags to pack the goods and food being sold by them.
Environmentalists have been urging the TTD to curb the use of plastic on the hill. Though the use of plastic is banned at Tiru-mala from November 10, the prohibition appears to be confined to paper, and the hill temple is still witnessing goods and food being packed in plastic.
According to official sources, on an average, 70,000 to 90,000 devotees visit Tirumala on normal days the number touches 1 lakh and more on weekends and auspicious days.
During their stay at Tirumala, the visitors go shopping stuff that is eventually packed in plastic carry bags. There are 4,000 shops at Tirumala including hotels and petty shops which sell as many as 15,000 different kinds of material on any day which leads to the use of the plastic carry bags.
