The Hindu : Kerala News : Sabarimala cleaning campaign gaining momentum

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 31, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Sabarimala cleaning campaign gaining momentum

By Our Staff Reporter

Sabarimala Sanitation Society workers cleaning the Neelimala trekking path.

PATHANAMTHITTA, DEC. 30. To the 480-odd Tamil workers of the Sabarimala Sanitation Society (SSS), the cleaning drive at the holy hillock as well as the foothills of Pampa and the trekking path is a divine mission.

The SSS workers are on duty clearing the filth from the surroundings of the temple, day in and day out.

They pick up the wastes littered all over the pilgrim centre by the scores of pilgrims coming from different parts of the country to transport it to the incinerator at Cheriyanavattom for its disposal.

Raju, a graduate from Madurai, has been attending the two-month-long SSS cleaning mission at Sabarimala ever since its inception in 1995.

The Duty Magistrate, K. Rajagopalan Nair and the Executive Magistrate, D. Mohanraj, told

The Hindu that the SSS had launched an intensive cleaning operation at Sannidhanam, Pampa and the trekking path on December 27 folowing the closure of the Ayyappa Temple after the Mandalam pilgrim season on December 26.

The entire locality was littered with plastic and other wastes and everything was cleared in the intensive cleaning operation. The solid wastes have been shifted to the dumping yard of the sewage treatment plant at Cheriyanavattom.

The Lower Thitumuttom of the Ayyappa Temple, the Pampa Ganapthi Temple premises and the cemented stretch of the trekking path have been cleaned.

The Pampa bathing ghats and the Manalpuram have been cleared of filth, besides the cleaning of the drainages at the holy hillock, during the past three days, says Mr. Mohanraj.

Awareness campaign

The District Collector, Rabeendra Kuamr Agarwal, who is also the ex-officio chairman of the SSS, stressed the need for an effective awareness campaign to make the pilgrims coming from the neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka aware of the need to keep the holy hills clean so as to preserve the sanctity of the temple.

The Collector said that the SSS workers had been doing a yeoman service at Sabarimala. The entire Sabarimala has been divided into 17 sectors so as to facilitate effective sanitation work by deploying the workers under a revenue official in each sector.

The SSS is the brainchild of the former Collector, K. B. Valsalakumari.

Various media reports and first-hand information collected on the alarming unhygeinic situation at the holy hillock prompted Mrs. Valsalakumari to take the initiative to undertake the sanitation drive there, braving opposition from certain quarters in 1995.

Her successor, Inderjit Singh, had introduced an insurance cover of Rs. 25,000 for the SSS workers (personal accident claim plus medical extension) in 1996.

The SSS has also provided 1,200 Sabarimati-model trench latrines at different parts of the pilgrim centre during the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku season.

The Tamil workers form the backbone of the cleaning machinery at Sabarimala and they have been paid with a daily wage of Rs 100, besides food and accommodation, a pair of chappals, bathing soaps, coconut oil and two pairs of uniforms.

The SSS workes have also been deployed at the base camps at Nilackal, Pandalam, Vaddasserikkara and Perinad.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala