It’s a 15-minute drive from the district headquarters to this village in Siddipet rural mandal. But what’s special about Irkode? With a population of about 2,800, the village attracts one’s attention while passing on the Siddipet-Dubbak road from the district headquarters with big, green trees on both sides of the road, trunk half-painted.
Another surprise awaits visitors. Contrary to stereotypes, its village panchayat office is neat and well organised with Any Time Water (ATW) dispensers on one side and the staff on the other side. A garbage collection van stands on the premises.
A small beginning
A few metres away opposite the panchayat office building, a small, fenced plot of land measuring about 6X3 feet sports a flexi-board ‘Plastic Collection Centre’ pinned to it. People are seen dropping plastic waste like bags and bottles at the collection centre. This is a slow but certain change as the village has already banned plastic use and is in the process of seriously implementing it.
“Officials and sapranch Vinitha are telling us repeatedly not to use plastic. Else, there will be severe penalties. We are also slowly discarding plastic bags and other material to the extent possible,” said B. Latha, one of the villagers.
“We have already banned plastic and made it clear to the people that its use would not be allowed any more in the village. However, some shop owners said that they had already procured plastic bags. So, we have given them time till December-end to exhaust the stock.
From New Year 2020, there will be no plastic use in the village,” averred M. Ravinder Reddy, chairman, Siddipet Urban Development Authority, also a native of Irkode, and husband of the sarpanch.
Incidentally, Irkode has bagged two awards at the national level for cleanliness.
Change-maker
True to Mahatma Gandhi’s posit that “The soul of India lives in its villages”, and, “The future of India lies in its villages,” Irkode, in a small way, is showing its ‘better informed’ urban brethren on how to “Be the change you want to see in the world”.
