Post bhandaras, will filth graph go up or down?
LUCKNOW:Bada Mangal is a festival that is unique to Lucknow, transcending cross-cultural beliefs.
As devotees brave the heat for darshan of Lord hanuman, business establishments, shopkeepers and others put up roadside canopies to offer free and unlimited cold drinks and food to passersby.
Temples resound with chants dedicated to Lord Hanuman and people jostle with each other to partake the free edibles. But these bhandaras are also known to leave behind mounds of litter.
This year, it remains to be seen whether chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s cleaning drive will have any impact on the Bada Mangal feast organisers.
Around 300 bhandaras are expected to take place in the city on Tuesday.
Cutting across community lines, many Sikh, Christian and Muslim organisations will also hold bhandaras for devotees who come for darshan of Lord Hanuman in various temples of the city. But have they understood the importance of cleanliness which chief minister Yogi Adityanath is underlining every day? Only Tuesday will tell.
“We have posted 400 sanitation workers in various parts of the city for Bada Mangal. Our teams will be deployed in Hazratganj, Aliganj, Faizabad Road,Indira Nagar, Alambagh, Gomti Nagar, Chowk and Thakurganj, but we want the organisers to understand the importance of cleanliness because God also stays in a place which is clean,” said additional municipal commissioner PK Srivastava.
“According to information, around 300 bhandaras will be organised across the city and many of the ‘pandal’ owners have promised to place their own garbage collection bags, but many have expressed inability to do so. At such places, the LMC has decided to place its bins,” he said.
“This time, the LMC would create awareness about cleanliness but next time organisers would be penalised for spreading filth after the bhandara,” he said.