Thiruvananthapuram (or Trivandrum) is the capital city of Kerala, a state in India. Trivandrum was the capital of the royal Travancore dynasty that ruled the southern part of Kerala in the olden times. 

Once every year, the temple at Attukal hosts the famous ?Pongala?. The festival involves offering a sweet dish which is made by the pilgrims traditionally, out in the sun, by lighting fire and using each ingredients prayerfully. 

It is the largest congregation of women in the world. The pilgrims come and offer in all roads leading to Attukal, leading to complete closure of all roads because the crowd is unbelievable.

Its a local holiday too because of this crowd.

Imagine? In this large gathering, definitely a lot of waste can be created. The plastic bags and containers in which the pilgrims bring their ingredients, also the plastic plates, etc on which they will be served lunch too.

Imagine the amount of waste it will contribute? 

Well, the  Muncipal Corporation of Trivandrum took the issue much before the actual event and laid out an effective strategy for proper waste management and environmental conservation. It was called ? The Green Protocol?.

The Green protocol involved using non disposable plates or asking pilgrims to bring non disposable plates like steel plates, etc themselves. Also, usage of plastic/flex banners, decoration items, thermocols, etc were told to be reduced or not used.

All individual organizing committees and associations involved in organizing the Pongala in different areas across Trivandrum were required to follow the Green Protocol.

The aid to this came through the ?Green Army?, an environment protection task force of the Muncipal Corporation of Trivandrum, which consists of well qualified mentors and volunteers, who were college/school students, or adults, who all had a common goal of protecting the environment. The Green Army involves in many activities including organizing Green Congress for Schools to present their eco-friendly projects, Vacation Eco-Summer Camps, etc.

Volunteers of Green Army went out taking surveys and ensuring whether the organizations were following the green protocol as they said.

I and my friend also joined the survey drive and found it really interesting and fulfilling.

 The best organization who followed Green Protocol in the best way possible were awarded special prizes by the City Mayor.

All volunteers also got certificates from the mayor.

I hope other public bodies and people work together to ensure environment protection around the world.

P.S. Sorry for getting my March Free report this late. Had exams.