Sadiwara, a remote village Panchayat in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district, has recently made headlines for all the right reasons. This small village came up with the concept of paying the people a gold coin in exchange for their plastic garbage. Farooq Ahmad Ganai, the village chief, proposes this brilliant concept, which inspires the inhabitants of the Kashmir Valley. He works as a lawyer and serves as the village Sarpanch. The campaign to protect the environment is unique, with the slogan “Give Plastic, Take Gold” serving as its launchpad.

This program has been widely successful, popularised, and taken up by other localities. It may be distinguished by the fact that within 15 days of the campaign’s beginning, the whole hamlet had been declared plastic-free. According to the plan, a gold coin would be given in return for 20 quintals of plastic garbage from the panchayat.

In addition to guaranteeing that every home in the village has a dustbin, he built community waste pits and soakage pits. In the community, single-use polythene is no longer permitted. Ganai wants to replace plastic bags with paper and cloth ones in his panchayat.

According to the Sarphanch, they promised to make their village panchayat green and garbage-free by the end of 2023. He also claimed that a road plan for segregation and recycling had been created and that the state property had been separated for waste disposal. Diaper destroyer machines are also being installed in Jammu Kashmir for the first time.

Also Read: Can diapers be burned in the incinerator?

Why This Initiative Is Important?

This effort illustrates how creative thinking and community involvement can produce good changes in society. The accomplishment of this project demonstrates the value of tackling environmental problems holistically. It helps us rethink the significance of different stakeholders, including the local community, the government, and NGOs.

This novel approach to protecting the environment is the best illustration of a collaboration between the government and the general public. The community, which used to have mountains of plastic litter on the roadways, is now absolutely clean, and the panchayat members get all the trash that is collected. This community is serving as an example for other communities, and the administration is working to spread the same philosophy across the Union Territory’s villages.

Also Read: Ways To Use Less Plastic