Civic workers remove 270 tonnes of waste generated on Chitra Pournami in Tiruvannamalai
Over 1,200 sanitary workers cleaned Tiruvannamalai town, including 14-km-long Girivalam path, for two days and removed more than 270 metric tonnes of waste that was generated during Chitra Pournami festival.
Tiruvannamalai Corporation officials, who oversaw the massive cleanup effort alongside DRDA, reported that this year's festival generated a record volume of waste, surpassing the 190 tonnes collected in 2024.
Around 30 lakh visitors attended the festival, which was held on May 11-12.
Organic wastes including tender coconuts, clothes mostly used socks and sugarcane waste formed major garbage collected during the festival. 'Sanitary workers from neighbouring civic bodies like Vellore, Arcot, Arani and Gudiyatham were also roped in to clean the temple town. The entire work was completed by Tuesday noon,' S. Selva Balaji, Commissioner, Tiruvannamalai Corporation, told The Hindu.
Along with Mr. Balaji, Collector K. Tharpagaraj inspected cleaning work on Tuesday. Corporation officials said that food wastes also contributed to total garbage generated during the festival.
Most food wastes were generated from 147 annadhanam spots. More than 100 organisations and individuals got the nod for free distribution of food during the festival. 'Such enormous waste of food could have been avoided by efficient management of its distribution by organisers. Devotees should also be responsible and stop wasting food during the festival,' said B. Archana, a resident.
Apart from 600 sanitary workers of the civic body, around 1,300 workers from DRDA were also engaged for the mammoth exercise. Over 80 per cent of sanitary workers were women.
Most of the wastes were dumped at the 15 acre-landfill site near the Girivalam path. Food waste will be recycled to make organic manure for farming and terrace gardens in the town.
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