Telangana: ‘Silver coin for plastic’ campaign a hit in Siddipet

The idea, floated by Konyala Bal Reddy’s KBR Foundation, is to gift a silver coin of 10 grams in exchange for every 10 kg of plastic

Siddipet: A unique idea to make the Ksheera Sagar village in Mulugu mandal plastic-free is turning out to be quite a draw.

The idea, floated by Konyala Bal Reddy’s KBR Foundation, is to gift a 10-gram silver coin in exchange for every 10 kg of plastic. Ahead of launching the campaign, Bal Reddy roped in some experts to counsel the villagers for over a week with lectures and other campaigns across the village.

The KFR Foundation collects a heap of plastic at Ksheera Sagar village in Mulugu Mandal of Siddipet district.

Bal Reddy, the husband of Ksheera Sagar MPTC Mamatha, set up the NGO to carry out various social activities in villages and other parts of Siddipet district. Since April 20, the Foundation has received 800 kilos of plastic from the villagers. The Foundation presented 800 grams of silver (80 coins) until Sunday evening. April 30 was the last day of the campaign.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Bal Reddy said Panchayat Secretary Soni came up with the idea after seeing a similar campaign in a village in Jammu & Kashmir. Sarpanch of Sadivara village in Anantnag district, Farooq Ahmed, had won appreciation for the idea of giving silver in exchange for plastic, with the same now inspiring KBR Foundation.

Bal Reddy saw how plastic affected people in daily life and wanted to send a strong message to the villagers with the campaign. He said the plastic collected during the campaign would be sold to plastic recycling units. Apart from the ‘silver coin for plastic’ campaign, he said he had a water filter in the village, built a bus shelter, Yellamma Temple, and a few other religious and public facilities there.