‘Cleanliness is next to godliness’, goes the adage to highlight the importance of being clean. Unfortunately, all the trash and garbage cleaned out of homes in the One Town have been dumped right in front of the ‘Kothagullu’ temple complex, which is home to several deities.
Cleanliness is being given the least priority in and around the abode of gods in the city. The city has been converted into a garbage dump yard for want of proper dumping sites and also due to acute shortage of vehicles to transport garbage out.
The temple complex has a large Kanyaka Parameswari deity with smaller deities of Krishna, Siva, Vishnu, Venkateswara Swami, and many other gods and goddesses. Right across the road is the Krishna Prardhana Mandir and adjacent to Kothagullu complex is the Kusumaharnath temple and the temple chariot enclosure.
A businessman from One Town S.U.V. Subba Rao said that he was appalled by the garbage and the stench when he went there to offer prayers on Thursday morning. There was a pile of garbage right on the doorstep of the temple complex. “There would have been riots if the same was done to the place of worship of any other religion. The tolerance of devotees here is being tested,” he opined.
Piles of garbage were also witnessed in Ratham Centre (Canal Road), which is home to the chariot of goddess Kanakadurga.
Kothagullu Temple Complex trustee T.V.D. Satyanarayana told The Hindu that the municipal corporation garbage dump was located right in front of the temple. The VMC was unable to shift it to another location despite several requests.
Municipal Commissioner G.S. Panda Das, in a statement on the garbage crisis in the city, said that efforts were being made to remove the garbage piles with the few vehicles available. Garbage piles at Ratham Centre on Canal Road could be partially removed on Thursday.
The VMC release said that the Commissioner had instructed the officials to remove the gabage on a “war footing.”
