Green Pilgrimages!

The newly formed Green Pilgrimage Network, of which the Sikh holy city of Amritsar is the only member from South Asia, has pledged to take a series of steps to turn pilgrim cities green.

A presentation on the Golden Temple and environment initiatives by SGPC and Amritsar city covered plantation drives, solar energy use and future water recycling programmes.

Among the initiatives agreed to by the group at its first convention in Assisi, Italy, are a ban on cars on pilgrimage routes, solar panels for cathedral roofs, provision of fresh clean water for pilgrims and planting of thousands of trees around sacred sites.

Now wouldn't that be great if more of the pilgrim cities and towns do a clean up? Especially in India, most of these places are ridden with plastic waste, bottles and cups and plates clogging streams and roadsides. Solar panels would be a good option while ban on cars would make it a real pilgrimage.