Unique initiative to keep Bansilalpet Stepwell clean

The NGO maintaining Bansilalpet Stepwell adopts a novel way to keep its vicinity trash free

Hyderabad: Kids who live around the recently restored Bansilalpet Stepwell are now scrabbling for trash. Why? Because the management of the heritage site has decided to give free entry to kids who turn up with a bag full of plastic.

The initiative was taken up in an attempt to keep the site in Secunderabad clean. To sustain the effort, there are also plans to incentivise these kids with chocolates, books, and other treats.

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After the well was revived to its past glory, a bunch of eateries and other shops have come up in the vicinity. And with regular visitors, it was natural for the site to generate a lot of plastic trash.

“Initially our staff would visit every morning and evening to pick up the trash. We have a large grilled room just behind the ticket counter which showed the plastic piling up. It encouraged the residents to not litter,” says Rajashree Pinnamaneni from Gandipet Welfare Society for Zero Waste.

This NGO helped raise funds for the restoration and now manages the 17th century heritage site.

However, they wanted the children and residents of the locality to take up the initiative. It started off by giving free tickets to kids who collected trash from the area.

“Now we are trying to give an alternative to these kids because most of them have grown up around the stepwell and a free ticket might not interest them. So, we are planning to give a pen, chocolate or something like that,” she explains, adding that they also have plans to entrust older children with the responsibility of spreading awareness and keeping the area clean.

The elders in the area are also being encouraged to pick up the waste. Trash collected here is segregated and transported to the recycling units run by the NGO.

“By doing this, we believe that kids will pick up these good habits. Some school kids are also planning to visit the site soon, and that is when we plan to kick this off in a big way,” informs Rajashree.

The Bansilalpet Stepwell had turned into a dump yard over decades. With the help of the Telangana State government, Kalpana Ramesh of The Rainwater Project restored the stepwell last year. This self-sustaining tourism model is today among the most visited places in the city.