VIJAYAWADA: Devotees visiting Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam, Indrakeeladri, are facing hardships, especially because of rain waterlogging and irregular parking of four-wheelers across the lane leading to Mallikarjuna Maha Mandapam (queue line complex) from Ratham Centre.
There has been a drastic increase in the number of devotees visiting Vijayawada. The footfall at the temple, which has now become the second largest temple after Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) in terms of attracting pilgrims and generating revenue, has doubled. Scores of devotees from various parts of the State throng the hill shrine every Sunday and are put off by its lack of amenities and poor sanitation.
When TNIE visited the temple on Sunday, ‘prasadam’, which was littered all across the floor, was left unattended by the temple sanitation staff. The premises were dirty because there were no dustbins near the queue leading to the sanctum sanctorum to prevent littering. Stray dogs roamed around the shrine to eat leftover prasadam. Several devotees said they felt uncomfortable to squat on the floor and expressed their dissatisfaction with the temple authorities for not initiating any measures to maintain hygiene. They also complained about poor sanitation near the Prasadam counters situated on the hill shrine and on the ground floor of Mallikarjuna Maha Mandapam.
The officials concerned should deploy enough number of sanitation staff to keep the floor clean and dry, else there are chances of elderly people slipping on the floor and hurting themselves. “Devotees are forced to walk on litter as the temple administration fails to clean the premises,” said S Prasad Rao, a devotee from Nellore.
When the issue was taken to the officials concerned, they said instructions were given to the notice of sanitation staff to maintain hygiene on the temple premises, especially during the weekends and holidays, when the footfall is higher.
“We even alert our staff by announcing through the public address system the untidy places which need to be attended to,” a temple official, who does not want to be named, told Express.
“For the convenience of the elderly devotees, elevator facility was introduced recently,” said the official. When asked about the defunct battery operated cars, the official said that they will be made operational in the next few weeks.