As the discarding of clothes in the Tamirabharani by the devotees offering prayers at Sri Papanasa Swami Temple is still continuing unabated to seriously pollute the perennial river and lifeline of four southern districts, District Collector R. Sukumar inspected the ongoing removal of discarded clothes from the river on Monday.

As the devotees taking dip in the Tamirabharani flowing in front of Papanasa Swami Temple as the river touches the ground from the Western Ghats believe that their sins would be washed away if they discarded their clothes in the river itself after the bath, tonnes of discarded dresses are seriously polluting the river and the 236 infiltration wells sunk along the Tamirabharani watercourse from Papanasam to Punnakayal.

“My grandfather would take us from his house near Vickramasingapuram in the early morning to take bath in the Tamirabharani flowing in front of the Papansa Swami Temple. No one would discard the clothes then and this practice of leaving the clothes in the river started only 25 years ago after some devotees did the same thing in Rameswaram and Kanniyakumari,” recalls 43-year-old Rajamanickam of Tirunelveli Town.

Even though steel mesh baskets have been kept near the river, the devotees continue to discard their clothes only in the river after bathing in the Tamirabharani. Hence, the Papanasa Swami Temple administration, Vickramasingapuram municipality personnel and the volunteers remove a few hundred kilograms of discarded clothes from the river everyday. However, the quantity of clothes being discarded in the river overwhelms the cleaning measures to create nauseating conditions along the river.

Hence, the Collector, accompanied by Superintendent of Police V. Prassannakumar and Sub-Collector, Cheranmahadevi, Ayush Gupta visited the ‘pollution point’ near Papanasa Swami Temple to inspect the collection of discarded clothes and the ashes urns being thrown away there by the public after performing the post-cremation rituals.

“Instead of discarding clothes in the river, the devotees should properly put it in the steel mesh baskets kept there only for this purpose. We’re slapping fine on those who discard clothes in the river after taking bath. We appeal to the visitors to help us keep the river clean’,” said Mr. Sukumar.