Two-day cleaning drive concludes at Sabarimala

Waste removed from Sannidhanam, Pampa

The two-day cleaning programme launched by the Amala Bharatam volunteers of the Mata Anmritanandamayi Math progressing at the Pampa bathing ghats in the foothills of Sabarimala, on Sunday. Photo: Leju Kamal

A two-day intensive cleaning drive launched by the Amala Bharatam volunteers of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math at Sabarimala came to a close on Sunday afternoon.

Math sources said 1,529 Amala Bharatam volunteers were deployed for the cleaning programme at the Sannidhanam, while 1,219 volunteers, a majority of them women, took part in the sanitation drive at Pampa.

Brahmachari Sreevalsan, programme manager, told

The Hindu that a total of 18,000 bags of waste were removed from Sannidhanam on Sunday.

The volunteers cleaned the Valiya Nadappanthal, Bhasmakkulam, Gosala and surroundings, donor houses, pilgrim shelters, toilets, bathrooms, Devaswom mess and surroundings, Aravana plant, Paandithavalom, Marakkoottom, and Saramkuthi on the trekking path.

A total of 10,000 bags of waste, besides seven truckloads of other solid waste such as rags collected from the riverbed and the riverbanks, were removed from Pampa on Sunday.

The Amala Bharatam volunteer force comprises devotees of spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi and students from various educational institutions attached to the Math.

Subhash Vasu, Travancore Devaswom Board member, took part in the cleaning drive held at Sannidhanam on Sunday. Swami Jnamrutananda Puri, Amala Bharatam national coordinator; and Gurudas Chaitanya, Thapasyamrita Chaitanya, and Brahmachari Raju coordinated the two-day programme.

District Collector V.N. Jithendran and Superintendent of Police Putta Vimaladitya were among those who visited Pampa on Sunday, extending active support to the volunteer force.