Palampur’s temple village turns dumpyard, authorities unmoved

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, March 4

Dadh village, around 10 km from Palampur, where the famous Chamunda Nandikeshwar Temple is situated, is crying for attention of the authorities as the temple village has turned into a dumpyard, with garbage scattered everywhere. The Chamunda temple is a famous pilgrimage centre of northern India, where Goddess Durga is worshipped.

Heaps of garbage have turned into an eyesore for the residents and visitors to the beautiful temple village. It becomes difficult for the motorists, pedestrians, including pilgrims and tourists to pass through the stretch. The situation has changed for worse in the past few months as vegetable vendors, residents and hotel owners are dumping waste on the roadside.

The dream of Swachh Bharat keeps on haunting the residents of Dadh and adjoining areas, which are called the “Temple Clusters”.

Old clothes, plastic waste, rotten fruit, vegetables, used electronics, coconut shells, etc can be seen dumped near the temple or in the adjoining river. The smell emanating from the waste at Dadh Chowk is causing a lot of inconvenience to the pedestrians and commuters who board buses here.

During rainfall, garbage gets mixed with rainwater, posing a health hazard to the people living nearby. The environment is especially conducive for mosquito breeding, which results in malaria, dengue and other communicable diseases.

Despite residents raising their voices and giving suggestions in this regard, no action has been initiated so far by the administration and Pollution Control Board. Media has also highlighted this issue several times, but nothing concrete has been done yet.

Chamunda Nandikeshwar Temple is managed by a temple trust headed by the Kangra Deputy Commissioner. The temple administration, which has income in crores, has miserably failed to handle the problem. It is time for the temple trust to wake up from the deep slumber and rectify the problem without depending on panchayats, which have no income. The trust needs to come forward to solve the mounting problem at the earliest before it turns into a health hazard.

Local residents, shopkeepers and hoteliers should also try to improve the surroundings and atmosphere of the temple town.