Watch: Renovated UP Temple Corridor Desecrated With Paan Stains, Litter

A video shared on social media has once again ignited a fierce debate on the civic sense, or the lack thereof, in India. The clip shared on Instagram by a user shows littering and paan stains in the corridors of the Vindhyachal Dham, a major pilgrimage site in the Mirzapur district, recently renovated by the Uttar Pradesh government.

"Civic sense is not a common thing in India. This is the Vindhyachal Dham that has been renovated by the Yogi government. Recently, an Amul shop opened here, and you can see the beautiful temple there. But just nearby, you can see this," said the user, identified as Dhirendra Pratap Singh, pointing towards the paan stains and heap of Lassi tetrapacks. 

"The temple is just in front, and this is the condition nearby. While I was making a video, a person spat here and told me not to show him in the video."

Check the viral video here:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dhirendra Pratap Singh (@dhirudps)

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'This will never be fixed'

As of the last update, the video had garnered over 7.3 lakh views and hundreds of comments as the social media users demanded strict action against those vandalising and littering public places.

"Hundreds of crores of rupees were spent to build the magnificent Temple Corridor, but some people and some shops are leaving no stone unturned to turn it into a mess," said one user, while another added: "Everyone thinks it's not my problem, so this will never be fixed. Public humiliation of illiterate people who do this is necessary."

A third commented: "There must be cameras installed in the premises, scan the recording, find those people who spat, bring them to the temple and make them clean it. Indore police has been doing the same. Yogi can implement it too."

The video has sparked calls for stricter enforcement of cleanliness rules and heavier fines for those caught littering. Despite the current NDA administration launching the Swachh Bharat initiative 11 years ago, the lack of civic sense remains a big bottleneck in the success of the campaign.

Last month, a Russian tourist posted a video showing a man openly littering during the Attari-Wagah border ceremony. In the clip, an elderly man can be seen eating an ice cream, but instead of throwing away the wrapper in a dustbin, the man takes it out and tosses it in front of him before carefully nudging it under the seat in front of him.