The Hindu : Kerala News : High-level meet on Sabarimala master plan soon

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 02, 2006

Kerala

Kerala

High-level meet on Sabarimala master plan soon

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor

PATHANAMTHITTA: The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests will convene a high-level meeting to review the status of implementation of the Sabarimala master plan at the Forest Department headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday.

According to Joint Director of the Project Tiger Ganga Singh, top officials of the Union and the State Governments, the Travancore Devaswom Board authorities and those of Ecosmart India Ltd. , an agency commissioned by the State Government for preparing the master plan, will attend the meeting.

It is alleged that the Sabarimala development have hit many a roadblock owing to lack of coordination between various stakeholders, besides absence of a strong commitment to initiate the project and complete it within a timeframe.

The TDB, the main stakeholder and administrative body of the Lord Ayyappa temple on Sabarimala, has announced a big development project for the sacred hills as soon as the new Board, comprising three political nominees, assumed charge a year and a half ago.

The plight of pilgrims coming from different parts of the country to Sabarimala is worsening, despite the assurances given by the State Government as well as the TDB that basic pilgrim facilities will be improved.

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