Temple fined Rs 1 lakh for failure to curb littering during festival

Udhagamandalam: The Sholur panchayat on Friday slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the authorities of Bokkapuram temple near Masinagudi for failing to curb littering of plastic bags in and around the temple premises during the five-day festival that ended on Tuesday.
Executive officer of Sholur panchayat Nandhakumar said, “As per the instruction of the district collector, a fine of Rs 1 lakh has been imposed on the temple authorities for not controlling vendors from using plastic bags and covers.”
Nagina, an activist and a resident of Bokkapuram, said, “It is sad to see the temple area littered with garbage where wild animals roam around. Though cleaning work is underway at one side, workers are burning the garbage including plastics on the other side.”
According to her, a pit near the temple is filled with food waste and plastics. If an animal falls into the pit, it will be a fatal fall, she added.
On burning garbage, local health supervisor Dharmalingam said, “Workers had burnt the garbage by mistake. We will correct them. It will not be repeated”.
Executive officer of the Bokkapuram temple Rajesh said, “We have a received a letter from the Sholur panchayat stating that a fine of Rs 1 lakh has been imposed on us. We need to consult with our higher officials in this regard”
When questioned why the temple allowed plastics inside the forest area, Rajesh said, “While floating the tender, we had stressed on the ban on plastics in the Nilgiris as one of the conditions. However, the vendors violated the condition. But we had been announcing about littering and plastic usage over mike.”
He added, “But the temple sees lakhs of visitors during the annual festival. But our staff strength is limited.”
Later in the evening on Thursday, herds of deer moved into the temple area. But the uncleaned littering was a cause of concern.