GOMBAK: Amid the thousands of devotees thronging the Sri Subramaniar Swamy Temple in Batu Caves for Thaipusam, various groups worked tirelessly to maintain cleanliness.
Ganesh Loganathan, who heads the Clean Thaipusam recycling team, said close to 70kg of discarded recyclable materials had been collected since Feb 8.
“We collected about 400kg of excess fruits from Feb 8 when we began our duty until yesterday,” he said, adding that the collected items were then distributed to related groups in stages.
He said the group has about 500 volunteers based across temples in Selangor, Penang, Ipoh, Johor and Kedah.
“At Batu Caves, we have about 400 volunteers,” he said.
He said volunteers are divided into three shifts – morning, afternoon and evening.
Apart from cleaning, volunteers also carry around placards and banners reminding people to dispose of their waste responsibly.
Ganesh said the group has been conducting cleaning efforts since 2019.
“We have also seen devotees discarding waste responsibly,” he said.
Sri Maha Mariamman Temple trustee Datuk N. Sivakumar said they work around the clock to ensure the surroundings of the temple remain clean.
“It can be challenging to transport the rubbish out from the compound due to the large volume of crowds.
“We also have groups educating the public on maintaining clean surroundings,” he added.
He also revealed that between two and three tonnes of slippers were left behind during last year’s Thaipusam celebrations.
Sivakumar said rubbish bins have been strategically placed in various locations to ensure ease and convenience for devotees and visitors.
