Sanitation lapses at Ganagapur temple town upset devotees

Pic: Riverbank in Ganagapur, Kalaburagi district, is filled with used clothes, garbage and filth; Dattatreya temple in Ganagapur is a major pilgrimage centreKalaburagi: Deval Ganagapur, a major pilgrimage centre in Kalaburagi district, has turned into a dumping ground for used clothes, with devotees discarding garments after holy baths. Heaps of clothes are strewn across the town, while devotees often resort to open defecation along banks of Bhima and Amarja rivers where rituals are performed. In the absence of toilets, pilgrims are forced to complete rituals amid unhygienic conditions.Jagadeesha Arakalgud, a devotee from Bengaluru, who visited the pilgrimage centre on Feb 22, told TOI that he was stunned to witness the unhygienic situation in Ganagapur. "It was my first visit after a suggestion by our cousins. We approached the chief minister and other authorities, seeking better cleanliness measures. The pilgrimage centre attracts lakhs of visitors from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and other states. Although water is good in the middle, but we cannot even walk on the bank, as it is filthy," he shared.Vallabh Dinkar Bhatt Pujari, a priest at Shree Kshetra Ganagapur Datattreya temple, said that since the river bank belongs to private persons, the administration was helpless to take any action. "Devotees also have an equal role in littering the premises. Many astrologers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana suggest devotees to dump their clothes for 5 full-moon days to beat bad luck. Following their suggestion, devotees dump their clothes here, while there is no mechanism to handle such waste. Another issue is that the local stretch of the river does not have flowing water. It is backwater of the Ganagapur bridge-cum-barrage. Local drainage water joins the river at Chakreshwar Tirtha and Rudrapada Tirtha. There is a need for comprehensive action to mitigate all these issues," he commented.He also mentioned that priests' families gave up their houses located on the temple premises about 40-50 years ago to facilitate an access road to the temple. "After the Covid pandemic, the number of visitors increased, but not the facilities. Devotees are not sensitised to avoid littering even at the ashta tirthas, located in a 4km stretch. Amid such conditions, we are ensuring that pujas and rituals take place at 3am, 12 noon, and 7pm on a daily basis," he explained.Quote hangerWe visited Ganagapur recently. We found there is only a 20ft road at a place where lakhs of devotees visit. During our visit, we found that land is unavailable for any development work. We told the Kalaburagi DC and other officials to prepare a master plan for the development of the Ganagapur pilgrimage centre. We are planning to acquire 2.2 acres of land from private persons and 13 acres of land belonging to the govt. All MLAs of Kalaburagi district approached us in this regard. At the other end, the temple has an annual income of only Rs 3-4 crore. Our priority is to acquire the land between the temple and the river. The master plan will be prepared by the time of the next assembly session - Ramalinga Reddy, muzrai minister, Bengaluru