Clean-up begins beside temple parking area on Marudhamalai hill

A drive to remove accumulated rubbish near the temple parking area on Marudhamalai hill in Coimbatore began on October 11, The Hindu reported.

The work started a day after the newspaper posted a video highlighting the longstanding problem. A senior Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department official said higher authorities had ordered the waste removed. The clean-up was expected to take a week.

The department also plans to fence the area to prevent further dumping. The official told the newspaper that earlier efforts to organise a large-scale clean-up with community groups and volunteers had not received Forest Department permission.

Temple sources estimated daily waste generation at about 200 kilograms. Around 20 staff maintain the premises, with collected rubbish handed to the Coimbatore Corporation for disposal.

At the foothills, Somayampalayam village panchayat has established a plastic waste collection centre. Visitors are advised not to take disposable plastic products to the temple. Marudhamalai lies in an ecologically sensitive forest area, and conservation enthusiasts warn that waste threatens elephants moving between the Boluvampatti and Thadagam valleys.