Karaikal:
The new regulations enforced by the Karaikal district administration for the pilgrims visiting the famous Lord Saneeswara temple at Tirunallar in the district have helped save a lot of water, said officials.
The Tirunallar temple attracts thousands of pilgrims every day.
Prior to visiting the temple, the pilgrims visit the legendary temple tank called the ‘Nalan Kulam’ to take a holy dip.
After that, they leave their clothes in the waters as a mark of getting rid of their sins.
This practice resulted in mounds of cloth floating in the water which gets dirty and the temple administration had to replace the water through pumpsets frequently, besides removing the clothes.
The tank is being filled using the water drawn from a borewell, which ranges from 20 lakh litres to 40 lakh litres every time depending on the flow of pilgrims.
The tank is emptied for re-filling, which results in wastage of huge volume of groundwater.
Karaikal collector A Vikranthraja told PTI that it was observed that a huge quantity of water was being wasted due to the practice of frequent cleaning up of the tank.
“With a view to preventing the wastage of water, we decided to regulate the practice of leaving clothes in the tank. Instead of leaving them in the water, we asked the pilgrims to leave them in the boxes put up on the steps of the tank,” he said.
“We have placed boxes at 12 spots on the tank steps and made announcements that clothes should not be left in the tank,” said the collector and added that the new regulations were being enforced since July 1.
“We are overwhelmed by the cooperation extended by the people. They’re leaving the clothes in the boxes.
However, it was found the number of boxes provided was inadequate. “We are going to place 13 more large boxes,” he said.
The Collector added that the new regulation has helped save a lot of water, besides helping the temple administration to keep the tank clean.
