The crowd that thronged Tiruvannamalai for Chitra Pournami this year was phenomenal. The numbers swelled after 6 p.m. and there was hardly any space for free movement along the path.
Saravanan, student of a Tiruvannamalai-based college said, “I come here often for the girivalam. I take just 3-4 hours. But I was surprised that it took me nearly eight hours to finish it this time. I had to literally inch my way through the heavy crowd. I felt very tired when the task was finally over.”
Unhygienic
Usually one gets to inhale a healthy breeze due to the presence of a number of herbs around the girivalam path. But this was not the case after the festival.
The entire track reeked of urine. Faecal wastes were seen along the periphery of the road. As though this was not enough small time traders and those who indulged in annadhanam piled heaps of garbage all along. The record crowd brought to a debate on propriety of assembling this much of crowd in a small town every month and its health and environmental consequences.
Crowd in a small area
S.Karuna, state secretary of Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Artists Association said that when such huge crowd congregated in a small town it is definitely a cause for concern. May be over a time it will also pollute the groundwater.
For instance if one devotee excretes a litre of urine during his stay in Tiruvannamalai you can imagine the volume of waste Tiruvannamalai is forced to bear with when the numbers increase. No one can prevent visitors but the town should be helped to handle the situation. But the Government does not rise up to the occasion.
Government run transport corporations decide on how many special buses to operate and this contributes to the major share of the crowd.
When government decides to operate 2,000 odd special buses by cutting the services in other parts of the state, it should not only take commercial gains of the decision. It should take health, environmental consequences into consideration.
But in this case it seems the government is overwhelmed by the considerations of transport revenue and bulk hundial collection the Sri Arunachaleswarar temple.
It is time for the civil society of Thiruvannamalai town to take stock and discuss on the issues pertaining to girivalam, he said.
When huge crowds congregate in a small area it is a cause for concern
