Kerala - Pathanamthitta   

Sabarimala development still remains a pipedream

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor

No steps to ensure smooth conduct of annual pilgrimage

UNENDING: A view of the crowd on the narrow Chandranandan path leading to the Sabarimala Sannidhanam during the previous Makaravilakku season.

PATHANAMTHITTA: With hardly four months left for the annual Sabarimala pilgrim season, neither the State Government nor the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has taken any serious initiative to ensure the smooth conduct of the two-month annual pilgrimage. The reported cold war between the TDB chief and the members also has contributed to the stalemate.

The TDB and the Government are yet to take adequate steps to provide fool-proof basic facilities at the holy hillock. An effective crowd-management system is yet to be put in place to facilitate smooth holy darshan to the lakhs of pilgrims visiting the Ayyappa temple. Inept crowd management had resulted in a group of pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh resorting to violence at Pampa in January, 2002. The stampede at the Pampa hilltop that claimed 53 lives in January 1999 was a black mark on the State Government’s pilgrim management at Sabarimala. It had exposed the Government’s casual approach to the conduct of the pilgrimage.

The total revenue collection at Sabarimala during the last pilgrim season was Rs.76 crore, an increase of Rs.16 crore over the preceding season. Official sources say that 35 million pilgrims from different parts of the country and abroad visited Sabarimala during the period.

Despite the increase in revenue as well as the flow of pilgrims every year, the authorities have failed to ensure adequate basic infrastructure at the pilgrim centre.

The much talked about Sabarimala Master Plan, prepared by a Delhi-based private agency at a cost of Rs.70 lakh, has turned out to be of little use as far as Sabarimala development is concerned.

Instead of focusing on an eco-friendly Sabarimala development plan, it is said that the ‘jumbo’ master plan, estimated at Rs.4,050 crore, proposes infrastructure development at various temples and base camps all along the State, confusing the very concept of Sabarimala development.

The proposed queue complex, cardiology centres on the trekking path, sewage treatment plants at the Sannidhanam and Pampa, new appam-aravana plant, toilet blocks, etc., are unlikely to become a reality in the next one year as the authorities are yet to prepare a detailed project report and an estimate.

The Government and the TDB could not even implement the Centrally sponsored 11 schemes for pollution abatement of Pampa, which the devotees consider as holy river, lapsing Central funds to the tune of Rs.11.5 crore sanctioned four years ago.

There are allegations that an unholy nexus between certain officials on special duty, Devaswom staff members and contractors leads to fleecing of pilgrims.

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