Puri: The district administration has initiated steps to prepare compost from garbage generated at Srimandir here.
Sources said the Public Health Engineering Organisation (PHEO) has recently called tenders for setting up two solid waste treatment plants at the 12th century shrine.
“Huge amount of garbage, including banana leaves, stale prasad and damaged vegetables, are generated in the temple premises. We have planned to prepare compost by using the garbage. The project will be implemented under the Iconic City scheme of the Central government,” said collector Aravind Agarwal.
It is learnt that the administration is mulling to set up a solid waste treatment plant each at North Gate and South Gate of Srimandir. “The Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) will provide technical assistance for preparation of compost at Srimandir. The administration will spend around Rs 80 crore on the project,” said a source.
Srimandir sources said compost prepared at the shrine will be sold to people having kitchen and rooftop gardens as they show interest in purchasing compost prepared at the temple, said a Srimandir official.
In another development, the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has decided to put up a few hoardings near Srimandir to create awareness about taking mobile phones into the shrine. “We will launch an awareness drive to discourage devotees from carrying mobiles into Srimandir and taking photos on its premises. We will put up hoardings in this regard around the shrine and alongside the Bhubaneswar-Puri National Highway. Steps are being taken to install a few electronic display boards on the issue,” said SJTA chief administrator PK Jena.
According to sources, officials of the temple administration Saturday caught three devotees for taking photos on Srimandir premises. It is learnt that a few personnel of Jagannath Temple Police Service (JTPS) caught Upendra Kumar Trivedi of Uttar Pradesh, his wife Indu and son Himanshu while the trio was taking photos inside Srimandir.
“Trivedi told us that he was not aware of restrictions imposed on mobile phone use in the temple precincts. He has also submitted an undertaking not to repeat the mistake again,” said senior SJTA official.
In a related development, Singhadwar police have registered cases against Akash Madake of Pune and Jugala Kishore Vaishnav of Raipur on charges of taking photos inside Srimandir and uploading them on their social media accounts. “We have served notices on Madake and Vaishnav and asked them to depose before the SJTA,” said a police officer.
PNN
