Call To Protect Sacred Forests
Warangal: Ahead of the Sammakka–Saralamma Maha Jatara, state ministers, legislators and senior district officials have appealed to devotees to observe a plastic-free festival and help protect the ecologically sensitive forests of Medaram in Mulugu district.
Panchayat Raj Minister Seethakka led the appeal, urging pilgrims to treat the protection of the sacred forest with the same reverence as the worship of the tribal goddesses. “The forest is our mother. We cannot worship the goddesses while polluting their home,” she said, warning that the influx of plastic waste—estimated to exceed 1,000 tonnes during the Jathara—poses a serious threat to the ecosystem and public health.
Narsampet MLA Donthi Madhava Reddy echoed the call, saying every devotee has a moral responsibility to safeguard the air, water and soil of the sacred tribal region.
Mulugu district superintendent of police Sudheer Ramnath Kekan appealed to pilgrims to cooperate in making Medaram plastic-free. He said protecting forests is as important as performing rituals and urged devotees to avoid single-use plastic, instead opting for leaf plates and cloth bags. Achieving a plastic-free Medaram, he said, requires collective effort.
The appeal forms part of an intensive awareness campaign launched several weeks ago across the erstwhile Warangal district. From rural mandals to urban centres in Hanamkonda and Warangal, various organisations have been conducting outreach programmes ahead of what is often described as the ‘Kumbh Mela of the South’.
At a recent event at the Hanamkonda Collectorate, additional collector N. Ravi, in association with the World Environment Organization (WEO), flagged off a rally promoting the plastic-free message. A large cloth banner carrying slogans in 22 Indian languages was unveiled to reach devotees from different states. Emphasising the need for innovative communication, the additional collector said a multilingual approach was essential for a gathering of such scale.
Environmental activists have also stressed the need to curb the supply of thin plastic, particularly items below 120 microns, at the source. Social activist Kolipaka Prakash said nearly three crore devotees are expected to attend the Jathara. If each person leaves behind even a few plastic items, the forest could be buried under crores of pieces of waste, he warned.
Activist groups have urged the Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) to take strict action against wholesale plastic suppliers in areas such as Beat Bazaar, Tailor Street, Balasamudram and Shivunipalli. They said awareness efforts at the festival site must be backed by enforcement in urban centres to prevent illegal plastic supply.
The campaign has received strong support from students and youth groups. During recent rallies, school students marched with slogans such as ‘Save Medaram, Clean Medaram, Green Medaram’. Organisations, including ASR Seva have been distributing pamphlets and displaying posters at bus stations and transit points, highlighting the environmental and health hazards associated with plastic use.
