Sanyasi's hunger strike for clean Triveni Sangam enters day four

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The indefinite hunger strike launched by Swamy Dattatreyan Sai, state president of Hindu Mahasabha, demanding the cleaning up of Triveni Sangam at Thiruvallom, will enter the fourth day on Sunday.
Triveni Sangam, near Parasurama temple at Thiruvallom, is the point where Killiyar, Karamana river and Parvathy Puthanar converge. The place is popular among Hindus to offer bali tarpan.However, the banana leaves and flowers left behind have clogged at the Sangam, causing pollution at the place. Further, garbage from nearby commercial establishments, hospitals and housing complexes are also dumped into the river. As the summer reached its peak, the river has almost dried up creating a big heap of garbage at the spot.
The hunger strike began on the temple premises on Thursday morning. On the third day, the health condition of Swamy Dattatreyan worsened but he said he will continue the strike. According to Swamy, the nearby factories, housing complexes and hospital add to the pollution at Thiruvallom. "The effluent from the Milma plant at Ambalathara is disposed of here. The hospitals and flats in the area should implement better treatment facilities of the waste and keep away from disposing it at the Sangam," he said.
"Several projects have been introduced and funds were allotted for cleaning the Sangam. Many politicians gave promises to clean the place. However, no action has been taken yet. People living on the banks are under the threat of outbreak of diseases. We need pure water at the Sangam to perform rituals. The only solution for the same is the removal of drainage pipes here which disposes of hazardous wastes," said Swami.
Though a few others were supposed to join the hermit for the strike, they withdrew their support later.