Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Preparations apace for pilgrimage

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Devaswom Minister G. Sudhakaran has said that the preparations for the festival season at the Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala are fast nearing completion and all arrangements will be in place by the first week of November.

Responding to a calling attention motion moved by Raju Abraham (CPI-M) in the Assembly on Wednesday, Mr. Sudhakaran said steps were being taken to receive five lakh devotees during the festival season.

There would be facilities for the overnight stay of one lakh devotees and to park 10,000 vehicles at a time. Two storage tanks with 20 million litre capacity water storage tanks were being set up and special fire station, hospitals and other facilities being readied, he said.

The Minister said special care was being taken in view of the chikungunya outbreak to ensure that pilgrims did not contract any similar disease. The Sabarimala Sanitation Society was being activated to ensure hygiene at the pilgrim centre. Work on repairing the 17 roads leading to Sabarimala was moving at a fast pace and the roads should be ready by November 10. The Government had sanctioned a special grant of Rs.25 crore to the Public Works Department for the purpose.

Kochi water supply

Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran said in response to another calling attention motion, moved by V.K. Ebrahim Kunju (IUML), that the Government had drawn up a Rs.902-crore drinking water supply scheme for Kochi city under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission.

A comprehensive project for deepening the canals in the city was also being prepared for implementation with assistance from the Central and State Governments, he added.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Call to make sanitation drive a success
Children show that sensitivity is not a dead word
Rs.991-cr. resettlement scheme mooted
Railways mull wagon factory in State
Assault on children: two caretakers arrested
Preparations apace for pilgrimage
Child dies following fever
Devasia laid to rest
Missing girl traced
Abandoned infant adopted
Sanitation drive to be held tomorrow
Around the City
In Thiruvananthapuram Today

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu