Chennai: The organisers of the Cauvery Maha Pushkaram 2017 have urged the State government to release water from the dam and ensure adequate quantum is maintained in the river at least till September 24 when the festival concludes.
Tuesday was one of the “nightmarish” Amavasya days for many who visited the Cauvery during the Maha Puahkaram, which they will probably never forget in their lives. Over one lakh persons who had been to the Cauvery had to take a dip at a makeshift tank and also perform the rituals connected with Mahalaya Amavasya with hardly any water.
Expressing shock over the meagre water, Yogi Ganapathy Gajananda Saraswathi of Thiruvenkadu, coordinator of the Cauvery Pushkaram said over one lakh pilgrims had visited the Cauvery embankment area on Tuesday alone on the eighth day of the Pushkaram that also coincided with the Mahalaya Amavasya. Many had to offer the tharpanam without water. “Many had to compromise due to lack of water and conclude the ritual by sprinkling the rice on slushy land. We had not expected this,” he excla-i-med, and called upon the state government to accord priority to this festival and release water from the dam on a daily basis.
“Not only agriculture, all religious activities of the Hindus hinge upon the water, without which no one can survive. Yesterday being Mahalaya Amavasya, we expected the officials to open the dam sufficiently ahead and fill up the river so that the rites could be performed by the pilgrims visiting from the nook and corners of the country. Water released from the Mettur dam would take at least five days to reach Mayiladuthurai,” claims Kasi Venkatesan, vice president, Cauvery Maha Pushkaram 2017.
He expressed the hope that the authorities would, accepting the sentiments of the people, work out a strategy to release water from the dam till the festival concludes. Meanwhile, according to sources Sri Jayendra Saraswathi and Vijayendra Saraswathi who are the motivating spirit behind the conduct of the Pushkaram, would camp in Mayiladuthurai till September 24.
