Poor maintenance at Amma Mandapam bathing ghat causes dismay among visitors

TIRUCHI

Lack of hygiene and poor maintenance at Amma Mandapam bathing ghat has caused dismay among devotees and people who perform obsequies to their forefathers and ancestors on the banks of the Cauvery in Srirangam.

The bathing ghat, one of the most sought-after places for performing obsequies, receives 1,000 people a day on an average. On Ammavasya days, the number swells to more than 10,000. During the Sabarimala season - November, December and January - the bathing ghat receives around 5,000 devotees.

The bathing ghat is busy from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. on all days. Almost all the 80 priests there get a steady stream of visitors up to forenoon from early morning. The nature of pujas to the ancestors invariably leads to those performing the exercise to drop items such as flowers, garlands, cloths, fruits, leaves and others in the river. Several devotees, who visit Amma Mandapam, invariably drop garlands and clothes in the river. Except for a few items, most of them -mainly clothes, get stuck along the bank, thereby causing inconvenience to the devotees who take bath in the river.

Moreover, the platform always looks slushy and slippery. The devotees, mostly outsiders, have been forced to take extra care to walk around.

Inquiries reveal that the Tiruchi Corporation, which is supposed to take a lead in cleanliness along the riverfront and Amma Mandapam, confines itself to collecting waste kept in drums. The Purohithar Sangam, which has a strength of 73 members, reportedly takes care of day-to-day cleaning. It is said that it has employed two workers for the purpose. They clean the areas where pujas are being held daily and store the garbage in the drums so as to hand it over to the trucks or light motor vehicles of the Corporation.

“We do not expect the Corporation to clean the premises. We try our best to maintain the areas clean by employing our own workers. We spend ₹30,000 a month towards their salary,” says V. Jayakumar, president of the Purohithar Sangam, Amma Mandapam.

There is also a grouse that Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, which generates around ₹40 lakh a year on account of rent and lease for stalls on the premises of the Amma Mandapam, does not contribute to keep the premises neat and clean.