Clothes thrown into the Pampa cause pollution

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor

SABARIMALA

The Hindu, January 3, 2008

A recently evolved custom of abandoning clothes in the Pampa by pilgrims, mostly from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka returning after darshan at the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala, is causing pollution at the foothills, affecting normal flow of the river.

Workers from Tamil Nadu collecting clothes abandoned in the river to sell them at Rs.2 to 5 to contractors from Shenkottah and Tirunelvely reportedly made the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to think of introducing a system to auction of the right to collect clothes from the river a few years ago.

The board auctioned off the right to collect cloths from the river during the pilgrim season at Rs.65,000 five years ago. Over the years, the revenue from this account increased and the right to collect cloths from the Pampa this season fetched Rs.7 lakh.

The used clothes, collected from the river, will be dried and transported to Tamil Nadu in lorries. These clothes will be darned, coloured and starched to sell them at various pilgrim centres, including Sabarimala.

There are allegations that the contractor’s men collect only ‘reusable’ clothes, leaving tattered clothes in the river, causing pollution in the Pampa.

Cleaning drives

The Sabarimala Sanitation Society chaired by the Collector had to launch periodic cleaning drives in the Pampa bathing ghats to remove the clothes floating in the river.

Though the State Pollution Control Board had repeatedly directed the TDB to ensure effective removal of clothes from the river, it is often observed in the breach.

Environmentalists opined that a large fire place (aazhi) should be constructed at Pampa to facilitate the disposal of clothes, ‘puja’ materials and other items instead of them being thrown into the river.