Pune: ‘No Plastic and No Thermocol’ will be the theme of this year’s Pandharpur Wari, the annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur. 

A review meeting by Pune District Guardian Minister Girish Bapat was held on Monday to check ongoing preparations for the Wari, which will be in July. 

Bapat asked all senior officials to complete roads and other infrastructure works on the Wari’s route before the start of the monsoon. Similarly, he has asked police officials to design a plan for maintaining law and order during the period. Bapat further asked all the officials to provide clean drinking water and sanitation facilities for the devotees. 

Additional Collector Ramesh Kale said that this year the officials will focus on avoiding the use of plastic and thermocol. “As per government guidelines, this year we have planned to keep the motto of ‘No Plastic and No Thermocol’. Many people use plastic glasses to serve water and tea to the devotees participating in the Wari. 

Similarly, people distribute food in thermocol containers, which we will try to avoid this year. Many alternatives are available in the market and we will promote the use of these alternatives,” added Kale. Thousands of devotees participate in the Wari in groups of 100 to 500, which are called Dindis.