Refundable stickers, a new answer to Golconda’s junk

By: Shabeeb Zafar
HYDERABAD: At a time when the Swachh Bharat campaign is at its peak and Hyderabad is trying to reach the top spot with multiple cleanliness drives, authorities at Golconda fort have taken a few steps on their own to keep their monument clean.

Apart from an increase in the number of cleaners at the fort, what has caught the eye of tourists is the innovative ‘sticker policy’ to keep the premises clean.

“When people buy food items, they are asked to pay ₹20 more which is refunded at the exit along with a sticker that is put on the cover of the product,” says Srinivas Reddy, an official and owner of a sole canteen in the fort.

The sticker policy has had avery visible effect on the cleanliness of the historic fort, said Reddy.

Staff manning the booth at the exit, where the money is reimbursed said stickers are put on plastic bottles that people carry to the fort.

Siddharth, the security guard at the booth says, “There are almost 10,000 people visiting every day and if the fort isn’t clean, the public footfall will decrease. We have strict orders not to allow any plastic bags or bottles inside the monument. We therefore put stickers on the plastic bottles and charge ₹20. Plastic bags aren’t allowed inside and tourists are asked to buy paper bags and throw them in the garbage bins inside.”

While customers do have the choice to buy the products without the stickers on as well, security guards are told to closely monitor those who do not buy products with the stickers.

“They have apparently hired two workers who keep a close eye on the surroundings of the canteen, so that no one litters at the area,” said a tourist.

The history of Golconda fort goes back to the Kakatiya period, when rulers continuously defended the fort against the attacks of the Mughal empire.

The fort gained fame during the time when it was the capital of the Qutb Shahi dynasty. The Golconda fort used to have a vault where it used to treasure the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond and Le Bijou du Roi, the Hope diamonds.

With rapid urbanization, the country is facing massive waste management challenge. Over 377 million urban people live in 7935 towns and cities and generate 62 million tonnes of municipal solid waste per annum. Civic authorities at the fort are hopeful this method will keep a check on littering.