MPCB starts clean-up act at religious places

PUNE: Devotees and pilgrims at some of the important religious places in the state may soon hope to breathe clean. Taking a serious view of the large-scale pollution and environmental degradation at places of worship, the Maharashtra pollution control board (MPCB) has embarked upon a programme to tackle the problem scientifically. While feasibility studies by expert consultants have already begun at three places initially, namely Alandi, Shirdi and Sani Singnapur on the Pune-Ahmadnagar road, MPCB's technical advisor SB Katoley told TNN that a few other important religious destinations like Bhima Shankar, Shri Harihareshwar and Pandharpur have also been identified by the board for the project.According to MPCB's member secretary DB Boralkar, the state, also called as the Santbhoomi (land of saints) attracts a large number of pilgrims at some of the religious places. "An initial assessment carried out some time back has revealed that all these places are environmentally degrading due to the lack of proper measures," he said, adding the idea to implement an environment improvement programme was conceived in January last year. Katoley said once the feasibility studies are completed, the board will carry out detailed project reports (DPR) for individual sites, following which the environmental improvement programme will be undertaken, which will include scientific disposal of municipal solid waste. The CPCB has also agreed to provide financial assistance in the implementation of the project. According to Katoley, other salient features of the programme include disposal of plastic waste in and around the religious places, sewage treatment, ambient air quality, besides development of river fronts wherever applicable and maintenance of cultural heritage structures. "We have already had public meetings at these three places, and discussed the matter threadbare with even the trust members," Katoley said. A similar plan, named eco-cities, is already being run by the central pollution control board (CPCB) at some of the important places like Mathura, Vrindaban, Ujjain, Puri, Tirupati and Rishikesh, to name a few. "Our idea is to replicate the programme across Maharashtra, which attracts a large number of pilgrims and devotees throughout the year from all over," he said.