Mysuru: A cleanliness drive carried out by Yuva Brigade volunteers at the Chamundi Hills on Sunday revealed that the 1,001 steps are being misused for liquor consumption during the night. The volunteers recovered around seven bags of liquor bottles from both sides of the steps. The locals urged the forest, police, and temple authorities to ensure that the steps are kept sacred and devoid of these illegal activities.The cleanliness drive started at 6.15am on Sunday, led by the state convener of the organisation, Chandrashekhar Nanjanagud. Sixty-seven volunteers participated in the drive, during which two tractors of waste, especially plastic drinking water bottles, were collected from the steps. “As the Aashada Friday celebrations concluded last week, we decided to embark on this cleanliness drive. Plastic waste is common in most of the sacred places. But liquor bottles on the steps really shocked us,” he said. “We want the local police and the temple authorities to look into this issue seriously,” he added.Post-cleanliness drive, Chamundi Hills gram panchayat arranged vehicles to ferry the waste collected by the volunteers. According to the locals, the waste menace continues to haunt even after several awareness drives by the locals, govt, and non-governmental agencies; the steps remain polluted.Ensure steps to hills are safe, clean: Local“Even though during the Aaashada (celebrations) single-use plastic was banned atop the hills, no action was taken near the steps. It resulted in a flood of waste. The temple authorities must ensure that the steps are safe and clean. Using the steps for consuming alcohol will be a shame for the entire shrine,” said Lingaraju, a local resident.
