The Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple has been adjudged best ‘Swachh Iconic Place’ in India. On the third anniversary of Swacch Bharat Mission today, the centre will give a special award to the Madurai City Corporation in this regard. Earlier this year, the government had identified ten spots as part of the ‘Swachh Iconic Places’.

The award will be presented to the Madurai District Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao and Corporation Commissioner S. Aneesh Sekhar on  October 2 from Uma Bharati, the Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation.

Dr. Sekhar said the Meenakshi temple project has been sponsored by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility fund and it involves cleaning the periphery of the temple. Although the project is slated to be completed by March 2018, they made swift progress in the cleaning mission and was chosen for the award.

As part of the cleaning mission, several bins were placed at a distance of 50 metres along the Chithirai streets. A total of 63 compact bins (for biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste) have been placed and four compactor trucks do the rounds around the temple premises.  Tourists can make use of  25 e-toilets and 15 water ATMs that have been set up for their purpose. Battery operated vehicles were specifically purchased to clean this stretch.

According to Dr. Shekhar, the four concentric squares around the temple- Chithirai, Masi, Avani Moola Streets and Veli Streets would be made 100 per cent plastic free by March 2018.