4L volunteers to clean over 16,000 places of worship before Sankranthi

Mangaluru: Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) has planned to clean the surroundings of as many as 16,239 religious centres across the state ahead of the Makara Sankranthi to be observed on January 14. The cleanliness drive will be held from January 7 to January 13, stated a release.
Over four lakh volunteers from Projects’ self help groups and other NGOs will participate in the massive drive, an idea that was conceived by Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade, said Projects’ executive director L H Manjunath.
The idea was mooted seven years ago with the belief that such activities trigger environmental consciousness among people. Temples, churches, ‘basadis’, masjids and other places of religious importance would get a fresh look with the activity. The cleanliness drive named ‘Shraddha Kendragala Swachchata Karyakrama’, is conducted twice every year, on August 15 and ahead of the Sankranthi.
The voluntary exercise involves cleaning the surroundings of places of worship and removing vegetation and other unwanted material around it. The focus will also be on cleaning the interiors of temples, masjids, churches and ‘basadis’, and cleaning water sources surrounding these places. Besides, cleaning water sources of plastic, clothes and other wastes, Manjunath said.
Cleaning public toilets and streets will be taken up. The public will be encouraged to use cloth bags instead of plastic ones. tnn