Mangaluru: Yuva Brigade activists from across the State cleaned Netravathi River at Snanaghatta where hundreds of devotees take bath daily before visiting the Manjunatha temple at Dharmasthala. Heaps of garbage was removed from here on Sunday.

The garbage removed from the river included cloth waste, photos of Gods, soaps, mirrors, combs, tooth brushes, footwear, children’s play articles, coconuts and others.

As the activists cleaned the river, they requested the devotees to avoid polluting the river. Chandrashekar, State convener of the brigade, said that its activists are now engaged in the cleaning of water sources in the State.

Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala, Dharmadhikari, D. Veerendra Heggade, said that the government should ban washing of clothes in rivers and water sources abutting religious places and polluting of rivers in such places. Devotees too should preserve the sacredness of rivers by coming out of certain superstitions.