Pollution-free Bhogi with dung cakes

SRIKAKULAM: Villagers of Murapaka in Laveru mandal celebrate Sankranti with gaiety every year upholding traditions of Telugus. The village youth associations and the temple committees have decided to celebrate Bhogi in an ecofriendly manner this year. As per the decision, each household in the village has been asked to make 500 t o 5 , 0 0 0 cow dung cakes for the bonfire on Bhogi. Murapaka with about 1,000 families, has a g o o d number of cows.

All the families in the village have made dung cakes for Bhogi. Speaking about their decision to conduct bonfire in an e c o - f r i e n d ly manner, Vivekananda Youth Association president Bali Sreenivas Naidu said it was observed that throwing of discarded tyres and plastic articles in the fire was causing air pollution affecting the health of people.

Ambedkar Youth Association and Srikrishna Yadav Youth Association, Seetharama and Uma Maheswara temple committees have also extended their support to the eco-friendly initiative. “To ensure greater participation of women and children in the eco-friendly initiative, we have promised to give prizes to those who make more number of dung cakes. The response is overwhelming. Awareness rallies are also being organised in the village to create an awareness among people about the need to celebrate Sankranti in an eco-friendly manner upholding the traditions, he said.

“Responding to the call of the youth association, people in the village started making dung cakes from December 20 itself. We have made more than 5,000 cakes per house on an average. More than 1.3 lakh cow dung cakes have been readied for the bonfire on Bhogi,” said Tenela Mangayya Naidu, a retired school headmaster. It has also been decided to celebrate Kanuma in a traditional manner highlighting the significance of cattle in the rural economy, he added.