2 days ago
Devotees visiting Maruthamalai temple told to avoid single-use plastic products
The Forest Department, in association with the Coimbatore Wildlife Conservation Trust and Rotaract Club of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, organised a mass drive on Sunday to educate devotees visiting Maruthamalai Subramaniaswamy temple on the need to avoid single-use plastic products.
The awareness-cum-cleaning drive coincided with Aadi Krithigai festival, for which the hill temple had heavy footfall of devotees.
Forest Department officials said that devotees, who climb the steps to the temple and those going along the ghat road, were made to discard plastic carry bags at two checkpoints and were given newspapers to carry their offerings such as flowers, garlands and coconuts, to the temple.
Volunteers educated them on the need to avoid plastic bags and keep the hill temple, which is situated inside a reserve forest, free from pollution caused by discarding single-use plastic products. Devotees who came with cloth bags were appreciated and were allowed to carry offerings in them.
P. Shanmugasundaram of the Coimbatore Wildlife Conservation Trust said the volunteers also carried out a mass cleaning drive on the 800-odd steps to the temple and along the ghat road of about 2.5 km, from where more than 200 kgs of discarded plastic products were collected.