Additional free washroom complexes for pilgrims will be coming up on reserve forest (RF) land along the 14-km Girivalam path, taking advantage of its large track of vacant space.
Accomapanied by Collector B. Murugesh and Superintendent of Police K. Karthikeyan, Minister for Public Works and Highways E.V. Velu a few days ago inspected at least five spots along the path, including the Chengam Road junction, near the Town West police station, and the spot near the Sri Lankan Tamils rehabilitation camp, for setting up washroom complexes.
“Irrespective of its size, construction of washrooms on RF land on the path will affect the movement of wildlife as users will be using them (washrooms) round the clock,” a forest official said.
Forest officials said the temple and Girivalam path were located at the foot of Annamalai Hills. The hills fall under the Adinamalai RF, which comprises around 900 hectares of woodland, which is home to spotted deer, wild boar, peacocks, wild cats, and rabbits. Permanent structures, such as toilets, with lighting facilities will disturb the wildlife in the area.
Officials of the Public Works Department (PWD), which will construct the new facilities on the path, said the existing free washrooms were located on land that belonged to Vengaikal, Athiyanthal, Adi Annamalai, Nalavanpalayam, and Anaipirandan village panchayats. Around 30 washrooms, including 14 toilets, that were built by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) are located on the route. Most of the washrooms have been in existence since 2002, when the path got its first batch of four toilets for pilgrims.
RF land was chosen for the new washrooms due to a lack of adequate space in the villages along the path. The PWD officials also said the new facility, which would be built under the corporate social responsibility initiative of public sector undertakings, such as Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, NLC India Limited, and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, will have separate soak pits to discharge the wastes. Each toilet complex will measure at least 20x30 m and will have 24 units for men and women and two units for persons with disabilities.
PWD officials said the existing civic amenities, mainly washrooms and water taps, remained inadequate due to the rising footfall to the temple town, especially after COVID-19. On an average, the town gets around three lakh visitors on Chitra Pournami days and 1.5 lakh tourists on weekends. During the Maha Deepam festival last December, around 40 lakh people attended. However, the 70 temporary washrooms that were set up for them on the path ended up being inadequate.
