Koraput: In a bid to contain growing concern about plastic pollution and littering at Deomali hill, the district administration on Sunday launched ‘Clean Deomali Green Deomali‘ initiative. The campaign aims to maintain the scenic tourist destination’s cleanliness amid increasing visitor footfall and poor waste management issues.
As part of the initiative, 65 people, including block officials, panchayat representatives and local volunteers participated in a clean-up drive on the hilltop. The exercise, which began at 9 am and continued until 2 pm, resulted in the collection of at least 67 bags of garbage. The waste primarily included empty liquor bottles, water bottles, disposable glasses and polythene materials.
“Earlier, several measures have been taken to keep Deomali free from garbage and this initiative is an addition to them. It has been decided to continue this drive in a massive way,” district collector Keerthi Vasan V said.
Visitors are required to pay Rs 100 as security deposit at the entry point and are provided with two bags to collect their plastic waste. The deposit is refunded upon the return of the filled bags.
“Littering at Deomali has significantly decreased, and we are planning to deploy dedicated sanitation and security teams to ensure the area remains clean and safe for visitors. A resolution has been taken at the panchyat level to declare Deomali as a plastic-free zone,” the collector said.
Deomali, a popular tourist attraction in Koraput district, witnessed 4,80,724 visitors in 2024.
“It has been decided to continue the garbage cleaning exercise every Sunday. This week, we focused on the hilltop area used for trekking by visitors. Predominantly, we found liquor bottles and water bottles among the discarded items,” said Rama Nayak, block development officer (BDO) of Pottangi.
Recently, film director SS Rajamouli, who was shooting for a film, had trekked to Deomali. While Rajamouli was mesmerized by the area’s natural beauty, he expressed disappointment at the sight of garbage that visitors had left behind.