Mahe: Residents of a small Malabar village by the banks of the Mahe river are set to promote eco-friendly weddings.
The guidelines in this regard have been set by the state government’s Haritha Keralam mission that aims to integrate waste management with organic farming and conservation of water resources.
A gram panchayat-level meeting of the mission decided to implement the concept through the participation of the villagers of Azhiyur, which comes under Vatakara taluk even while forming part of the Greater Mahe region.
As per the plan, a family that is set to host a wedding should, in the first phase, inform the details to local volunteers of the Haritha Keralam mission.
Before the event, the household will have to ready a pit to bury waste.
The family should totally avoid hazardous waste-contributing materials, mainly plastic glasses and plates. To display the names of the bride and the groom, the household will be encouraged to use cloth banners and not flex boards. The family would be provided with an information brochure on how to completely avoid plastic goods while holding the wedding. Brochures announcing the ambitious plan are being readied for distribution. Subsequently, the volunteers would aid the household in waste management, charging a nominal fee.
The time-bound programme is being implemented for all the buildings within the panchayat by October 2, Gandhi Jayanti. The project will take off on August 15 with a wedding slated that day. The marriage certificate to the bride and her groom will be issued on that occasion by district collector U V Jose.
The green plan will be implemented after discussions between the panchayat committee and the core group of the Haritha Mission, besides mustering support from various political parties, religious and cultural organisations.
The coordination will be undertaken by the 18-member panchayat committee in association with Haritha Keralam’s core group with 15 members.
Those spearheading the initiative are panchayat president E T Ayyub and secretary T Shahul Hamid, besides A Shini, who leads the Haritha core group.
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