Guwahati: Assam governor Jagdish Mukhi visited Umananda temple on Friday to take stock of the cleanliness drive, initiated on his instructions a month back and was satisfied with the work done.

The ancient Umananda temple is very popular among visitors to Guwahati and is second in importance after the Kamakhya temple.

The temple, atop the Bhasmachala hill (the hill of ashes) on an island in the Brahmaputra, has tremendous potential to attract tourists. Its beauty earned it the epithet of Peacock Island from the British rulers. It wore a spruced-up look on Friday.

The governor, accompanied by his wife, had visited the temple on October 30 and was appalled by the lack of cleanliness, drinking water and toilets for visitors.

He then called Kamrup (metro) deputy commissioner M. Angamuthu to Raj Bhavan and issued instructions for a cleanliness drive at the temple.

Mukhi gave a deadline of one month to the district administration, in charge of maintenance of the temple, to change the scenario or face punitive action. The district administration then entrusted the work to the National Disaster Relief Force, state PWD, public health engineering and other agencies.

Speaking on the temple premises, Mukhi said, "I feel very good on my second visit to the holy Umananda temple today. It wears a completely different look now. I had first come here on October 30, along with my wife. At that time, the filth and garbage in such a historical and holy place appalled me. There was no provision for clean drinking water, toilets and the solar lights did not work. I had earlier visited Balaji temple which was clean and well maintained and the difference with this temple was striking. I am satisfied with the work done in the first phase. The second phase of further development will start as soon as the funds are released."

In the second phase, the stairway leading to the temple and pathway around the island will be developed.

A cafeteria, new stalls, kiosks and viewpoints are on the agenda.

Angamuthu, who accompanied the governor on his visit, said basic refurbishing, cleanliness drive, painting, repair of toilets and solar lights were carried out by agencies concerned within the one-month deadline.