Temple village of Kangra valley cries for attention

Dadh village, 10 km from Palampur, which is also known as “temple village” of Kangra valley since the famous Chamunda temple is situated here, is crying for the attention of the authorities.

Chamunda Nandikeshwar Temple is a famous pilgrimage centre of the Northern India, where the Goddess Durga is worshipped.

Lakhs of tourists visit the shrine every year. Today the temple village has turned into a dump yard, with garbage and debris scattered everywhere. At present, the temple village falls in the jurisdiction of two panchayats which have no funds to manage the affairs.

Heaps of garbage have turned the beautiful temple village into an eyesore. It is difficult for motorists, pedestrians, pilgrims and tourists to move in some parts of the temple village. Things have moved from bad to worse in the past few years, with the coming up of hotels, guest houses and sarais in the village. The waste generated by hotels, vegetable vendors, including residents, is dumped on the roadside and local rivulets.

A distant dream of Swachh Bharat keeps on haunting people of Dadh and adjoining villages, which are fondly called as temple clusters. The area has turned into a dump with garbage strewn on footpaths. Garbage consisting of old clothes, plastic waste, rotten fruit vegetables, used electronic items and tender coconut shells is dumped near the temple or in the adjoining river . The smell emanating from waste at Dadh Chowk causes a lot of inconvenience to pedestrians, pilgrims and commuters who board the bus from here.

The situation goes from bad to worse when rotten garbage mixes with rainwater and becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes and a threat of spreading malaria, dengue and other communicable diseases loom large in the area.

Despite citizens raising their voices and giving suggestions and the media highlighting the garbage issue, no action has been initiated in this regard till date by the administration and the pollution control board.

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. With mounting woes of residents, it is time for the temple trust to wake up from deep slumber and find solution for the problem without depending on panchayats which have no income.

The local residents, shopkeepers and hoteliers in particular must understand their responsibility of trying to improve the quality of air and environment rather than spoiling the clean and green atmosphere of the temple town.