Over the past few days, several Shiva temples in the
city have been celebrating Panguni thiruvizha. Colourful and chaotic,
the festivities have attracted lakhs of devotees, and brightened streets
in several localities. But the huge crowds, to whom water, buttermilk
and food was distributed by several residents, have also led to tonnes
of garbage being strewn across streets.

Sources at
the Chennai Municipal Solid Waste Pvt. Ltd (CMSW), a unit of conservancy
agency Ramky Enviro Engineers Ltd. said around 25 tonnes of waste had
been cleared from Mylapore and Thiruvanmiyur alone. CMSW clears garbage
from the Adyar, Teynampet and Kodambakkam zones

“Towards
the evening, stepping on to the street is a risk, as there are mounds
of food waste, plastic cups, dhonnai and Styrofoam cups and plates.
While some devotees set an example and distributed butter milk in steel
and re-useable plastic tumblers, there were some who gave spoonfuls in
devotees’ hands,” said S. Manjula, a devotee, who was trying to catch a
glimpse of the Arubathu Moovar procession of the Kapaleeswarar Temple in
Mylapore on Monday.

CMSW officials said they had been unable to sweep or clear garbage during the day.

“Vehicles
were allowed only after 11.30 p.m. when we started our work. We had 180
additional staff in three shifts to clear the garbage. We also placed
25 additional compactor bins and 35 smaller bins,” an official said.

A.
Mahadevan, a resident, said that cleaning had begun overnight. “This
year, after the Arubathu Moovar, the streets were cleaned promptly. This
was a pleasant surprise, as garbage is not always cleared promptly,
especially after festivals like Deepavali,” he said. 

T.
Raghunathan, a resident of Chitrakulam East Street said that while the
four mada streets in Mylapore had been cleared of all the garbage early
in the morning, some of the smaller lanes, such as his, still had
litter. 

“But when there are lakhs of devotees and
large quantities of litter you cannot really expect civic agencies to
clear it in just a day, especially since the crowds are still coming,”
he said.

M. Vanathi who lives on Kutchery Road, said
that since the crowd keeps flowing in till the festival draws to a
close, litter keeps accumulating. “The festival ends on Wednesday, with
small functions planned on Thursday as well,” she said.  

At the Marundeeswarar temple in Thiruvanmiyur, in two days, about five tonnes of garbage was collected.

“There
was not much in terms of weight. But the quantity was large because we
had thermocol cups and plates. It meant more work for the staff. We paid
them cash on the spot after they finished work. Apart from the regular
bins, we had placed 70 small bins and 12 big bins. Another advantage was
that volunteers from the temple kept cleaning the roads as the temple
car moved,” said a source.

B. Meera, a resident of
Thiruvanmiyur, who went to the temple on Monday evening, said that the
roads around the temple had only the usual amount of garbage while
inside the temple it was very clean.

Shanta
Krishnaswami, who visited the temple on Tuesday, said the temple and its
surroundings had been cleaned so well and there was no trace of the
massive event that had taken place.