Palampur temple village turns into garbage dump

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, April 12

Dadh village, 10 km from Palampur, where the famous Chamunda Devi temple or Chamunda Nandikeshwar Dham is situated, cries for the attention of the authorities. The temple is a famous pilgrimage site of North India, where Goddess Durga is worshipped. Over the years, the temple town has turned into a dump yard, with garbage/waste/debris scattered everywhere.

This has turned the beautiful temple village into an eyesore. With stench emanating from the garbage, it is difficult for motorists, pedestrians, pilgrims and tourists to move through this area. Things have turned

from bad to worse in the past few months, with hotels, vegetables vendors and residents dumping their waste by the roadside with impunity.

The Swachh Bharat initiative seems to be a distant dream for Dadh and the adjoining areas which were fondly called “Temple Clusters”.

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

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

Though residents have raised their voice

against the issue, no action has been taken in this regard by the administration or the Pollution Control Board.

The authorities should put in place a proper waste disposal system.

Chamunda Nandikeshwar Temple is managed by a temple trust headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Kangra.

The temple administration, which has income in crores, has failed to handle the problem. It is time for the temple trust to wake up from its deep slumber and rectify the problem without depending on panchayats, which do not have much income.