Khotang, February 12

The Halesi Mahadev Temple, a famous religious and tourism destination in Khotang district, is getting increasingly polluted, thanks to poor waste management in the shrine area.

The temple that attracts Hindus and Buddhists devotees from as far as Darjeeling and Sikkim of India is losing its aesthetic value due to the haphazard dumping of garbage.

“Tourists from Tibet, China, Bhutan, France and other countries come here in choppers, but increasing pollution is very likely to repel such tourists,” said Chakra Kumar Rai, chairperson of the local Renewal Service Society Nepal, Durchhim.

He also attributed the growing pollution at the holy site to the local administration’s failure in monitoring the situation.

“There are only a few public lavatories at the site while the increasing number of hotels and shops are also adding to the pollution,” said Temple Management Committee chairperson Gajurman Rai, urging the government to take immediate initiatives to keep the place clean.

Halesi Development Committee and Temple Management Committee’s frequent attempts to check pollution at the shrine site have gone in vain.

Local Tiwan Rai said growing encroachment of the shrine area had also contributed to pollution.

Earlier, Minister for Land Reform and Management Ram Kumar Subba had directed the local land revenue office reclaim the encroached land of the shrine at the earliest.