Heaps of garbage from the Netravathi were removed at Snanaghatta near Dharmasthala on Sunday.
Activists of Yuva Brigade from across the State cleaned the river at Snanaghatta where hundreds of devotees take bath daily before visiting the Manjunatha temple at Dharmasthala.
Cloth waste, photos of Gods, soaps, mirrors, combs, tooth brushes, footwear, children’s play articles, coconuts were among the garbage removed from the river.
Activists requested devotees to avoid polluting the river. Chandrashekar, State convener of the brigade, said that its activists are now engaged in the cleaning of water sources in the State.
D. Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari, Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, said that the government should ban washing of clothes in rivers and water sources abutting religious places and polluting of rivers in such places. Devotees too should come out of certain superstitions and preserve the sacredness of rivers.