Scores of volunteers from various service organisations, women forums and community organisations joined hands together and took up a cleaning drive on the Cauvery riverbed on Amma Mandapam in Srirangam on Sunday.
Commencing at 6 a.m, the volunteers, numbering around 300, collected old clothes and puja materials accumulated in the river. They cleaned up the left and right sides of Amma Mandapam, one of the important pilgrims attractions in Srirangam. Wearing gloves, they meticulously removed the abandoned clothes and plastics, which were polluting the river environment. The sanitary workers of Tiruchi City Corporation also took part in the drive along with volunteers.
Minister for Tourism Vellamandi N. Natarajan, Minister for Backward Classes and Minority Welfare S. Valarmathi and Corporation Commissioner N. Ravichandran, who visited Amma Mandapam, appreciated the work done by the volunteers and the organisations associated with the drive.
KPSN Badranarayanan, one of the organisers, said two loads of abandoned clothes and plastics were cleared during the drive. The garbage was taken away in lorries belonging to the Tiruchi Corporation. The bathing gate, considered as a holy spot, has become clean ahead of possible opening of Mettur dam shortly.
