The Kapaliswarar Temple festival has just concluded and as is usual, it witnessed attendance by thousands and on certain days, lakhs. Over the years, the administrative machinery has certain SOPs in place that serve it well. And this year was no different. Fire services, conservancy workers, public health facilities and police personnel were all in attendance and worked tirelessly to ensure smooth conduct of the processions despite all the challenges – Metro rail work included. What therefore jars is the increasing lack of discipline among the public. It is time they do not take civic services for granted and behave with responsibility.
This of course is not unique to the Mylapore festival or for that matter any other temple. All religious places in India, barring perhaps those of the Sikhs, are a byword for civic hygiene violations when their festivals occur. But that this should be the case at Mylapore, which ought to be leading public thought and action in the correct direction is saddening.
How else then do you explain the vast mounds of garbage that collected endlessly, even as the conservancy workers kept cleaning without pause? They were a familiar sight even at places where crowds were the greatest, sweeping and gathering despite all the pushing and shoving that went on. It would be no exaggeration to say that they kept their cleaning activities ongoing even while the processions were in progress, and their diligence we are sure must have earned them the blessings of the deities who watched. But the public did not seem to care.
There are certain ways in which the administration can step in to inculcate discipline. The first is to make sure that the area is entirely out of bounds for vehicular traffic for the ten days. Residents and shopkeepers can be given passes to allow them access and even they need to make sure they are not driving about when the processions happen. In the just concluded edition, while vehicles were not allowed during the processions, they were permitted later, and this posed a huge challenge as the pedestrian population was high and the roadsides were all taken up by hawkers.
The administration also needs to earmark hawking zones and not allow sellers to set up shop and display wares on the road itself. This is hazardous from all points of view – for the vendors, the shoppers and others on the road. The Corporation, which permits the setting up of thanneer pandals ought to restrict them in number and also enforce they only dispense water and cooling drinks such as buttermilk. Presently, most kiosks become makeshift kitchens with roaring fires, adding to the dangers already present by way of overcrowding and vehicles.
The removal of solid foods will also reduce the crowds that gather at these kiosks, thereby freeing up road space. It will also bring down food wastes that need to be cleared. There was an era when we were a starved nation and dispensing food at public events was a much-appreciated gesture. In Mylapore, what is seen is that people view these kiosks as sampling centres. They jostle their way to collect what is given, taste a spoonful of it, throw the rest away and go on to the next kiosk. Such wastage is best avoided.
Care also needs to be taken to minimise the sale of plastic goods and promote handicrafts such as clay pots and dolls, palmyrah fans, beads, and paper products. The profusion of plastic toys, in particular hooters which were blown to maximise noise, was distressing. These too were thrown away after a few minutes, adding to the garbage.
If all the above were to be controlled, the festival will be an exemplar for not just the rest of the city but to the state and the country as well.