A few ducks prey on small insects in the stagnant water at the tank abutting the famous Murugan temple on Mada Street in Vadapalani; more than a dozen doves flock to the walker’s pathway on the tank’s bund to feed on the leftover grains there; staircases look unclean; the tank itself is almost dry except for a few feet of stagnant water, exposing the entire concrete ‘mandapam-like’ structure that had been built in the centre of the tank, mainly for the temple festival season.
Sadly, all these can be viewed only from the terrace of a tall building near the tank as the stench from overflowing garbage in the bins around the tank area keeps people from going anywhere near the waterbody.
“Thankfully, the temple tank is protected by a well-raised compound wall to prevent the waterbody from turning into a pool of garbage,” says K. Sridhar, a resident of Vadapalani.
Built a century ago along with the temple, the tank is 40-feet deep and covers a few acres of land and is mainly a rain-fed waterbody. Channels were set up on all sides of the tank to discharge excess rainwater from the neighbourhood into the waterbody. Stainless steel gates were locked on all four sides of the tank to keep trespassers away. They are opened only devotees to perform rituals, after they have obtained permission from the temple authorities.
On the other hand, the four Mada Streets encircling the tank are a neglected section.
Like many other ancient temples in the city including Kapaleeshwar temple in Mylapore and Parthasarathy temple in Triplicane, the Murugan temple in Vadapalani attracts a large number of devotees round the year. Despite the heavy footfall the temple receives every year, the tank area is filled with stench, garbage overflowing from bins around the waterbody, are strewn all over the place.
On the north of the tank, cabs and other private vehicles are parked beside the overflowing garbage bins, thereby occupying nearly half of North Mada Street. On other stretches around the tank, garbage and leftovers are found all over the area.
“Like other famous temple tanks in the city, one cannot see small shops around the tank area here (Vadapalani). This is mainly due to garbage being dumped all around the tank area,” said S. Meenakshi, a resident of Vadapalani.
Interestingly, the local Corporation office is located behind South Mada Street (also called Perumal Koil Street), a few hundred yards from the temple tank.
Civic officials said that sanitary workers regularly collected garbage from the bins that were kept on the four streets around the tank. Apart from this, Corporation workers also go for door-to-door collection of waste in the neighbourhood. “Better coordination with other state agencies like police in removing the illegal parking and encroachers like homeless persons have to be done to sanitise the temple area,” said a Corporation official.
