After plastic baling unit, Amrabad Tiger Reserve now sets up packaging centre

Hyderabad: After setting up a plastic baling unit, the officials of Amrabad Tiger Reserve (ATR) have now established a packaging centre at Mannanur where local women, especially Chenchus, will make jute bags and eco-friendly cups and plates. This initiative is aimed at ensuring decent earnings for local women and also promote use of eco-friendly bags […]

Hyderabad: After setting up a plastic baling unit, the officials of Amrabad Tiger Reserve (ATR) have now established a packaging centre at Mannanur where local women, especially Chenchus, will make jute bags and eco-friendly cups and plates.

This initiative is aimed at ensuring decent earnings for local women and also promote use of eco-friendly bags and other items. The bags made by the local Chenchu women will be sold to hospitals, super markets and temples, where plastic bags are used extensively, Amrabad Forest Divisional Officer Rohit Gopidi told Telangana Today.

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ATR in association with Apollo Hospitals set up the packaging centre. While forest department will provide semi-automatic sewing machines to the women, Apollo Hospitals will supply material to make the jute bags, he said, adding that the bags will be designed aesthetically and would have ATR logo on one side and Apollo Hospitals logo on the other. Likewise, if any supermarket or other organization places orders for these bags, their logo will be printed on the bags, he explained.

Initially, formal training would be given to the women on stitching, dyeing and other aspects. Already, 20 women Kollampeta and Mannanur have joined the Centre. “Once they get used to all these practices, more women will be trained in making eco-friendly cups and plates. Later, we will approach more organisations, especially Srisailam and other local temples to promote use of these bags and plates,” he said.

Though there is a baling unit at Mannanur, ATR intends to slowly do away with the practice of using plastic in forest limits. Generally, about 600 kgs of waste is generated a week which goes up during holidays and special occasions like Saleshwaram Yatra, when pilgrim traffic is high.

This initiative to set up packaging centre would serve two purposes. It will aid in decent earnings for the Chenchu women and promote usage ecofriendly bags and materials, especially by bulk users like hospitals, super markets and temples. PCCF R Shoba formally launched the centre last weekend and interacted with the women.

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