The Indian Prime Minister is paying an official visit to Nepal this month and is also scheduled to visit the Pashupatinath Temple, one of the main pilgrimages for the Hindus.

PADT Member Secretary Dr Govinda Tandon said the trust is paying attention to the sanitation and cleanliness of the temple area in the first phase in view of Modi's visit.

He said although they have not received any official information about Modi's trip to the temple for paying of homage, they were cleaning the temple based on informal information.

In this connection, the PADT plans to make the Pashupati area a plastic-free zone and has also started a campaign for that purpose. Although the area was declared plastic-free before this, it has not been fully implemented.

A campaign has been launched to make the Pashupati area free from plastic bags keeping in mind Modi's upcoming visit to the temple. A special campaign has been launched to keep the area neat and clean and ban the use of plastic bags on the temple premises, PADT member secretary Tondon said.  

The Nepali month of Shrawan is the special month for worshipping lord Shiva and many devotees throng the temple on this occasion, he added.

The Coral Shoes Pvt Ltd has provided 2,000 sets of cloth bags to the PADT with a view to assisting the campaign against the use of plastic bag.  These bags which are used for putting shoes of devotees are enough for the next six months, it is learnt.

Mr Modi is the first Indian PM who is visiting Nepal in the past one decade. RSS