BHUPALPALLY : Though the four-day Medaram Sammakka-Saralamma Jatara has come to an end, it seems cleaning the mess in and around the temple and surrounding areas will prove to be tough for Bhupalpally district administration.Over 2,000 sanitation workers have been deployed to clear the area. Officials estimate that the workers will take at least a week’s time to clean the entire area stretched over 15 km.
According to officials, the amount of garbage accumulated is massive as over 1.20 crore devotees visited the Jatara. They estimated that over 5,000 tonnes of garbage was generated on a daily basis during the course of the four-day tribal fest. If one happens to visit the venue, the stench emanating from wasted food, animal waste, discarded liquor bottles and stagnant water will leave one filled with disgust. The waste generated out of sacrificed chicken and goat pose the biggest threat to hygiene. Thousands of chicken and goats were scarified and were consumed by devotees during the Jatara. The devotees cooked food and left the uncleaned paper plates behind.
They attended to their nature calls leaving the surrounding area of the temple dirty. Discarded liquor bottles and snacks discarded in the open emitted filthy smell.The district administration is of the opinion that clearing 10,000 toilets constructed at different places will prove to be a Herculean task. The banks of Jampanna Vagu were not spared as lakhs of devotees shaved their heads, took bath leaving behind shampoo sachets and hair.
Over 10,000 small makeshift tents that were erected for devotees in and around the temple for comfortable stay were left dirty. Pilgrims who stayed in the tents during the fest, cooked food and left the place without clearing the vegetable waste, mutton and chicken waste, fruits and other items. Apart from this, several families erected make shift tents on the road side till Tadvai. They cooked food, consumed liquor asd left the place unattended. However, the huge quantity of jaggery offered by devotees was taken away by contractors so there has been less problem in cleaning the jaggery this year.