The Hindu : Kerala News : Fleecing of pilgrims alleged

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 27, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala

Fleecing of pilgrims alleged

Staff Reporter

SABARIMALA: Inadequate number of comfort stations that seldom meet the needs of the multitude of pilgrims camping at Sabarimala during the rush days of the festival season, coupled with the practice of auctioning the right to run these latrines at a hefty amount by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), has been allegedly leading to large-scale fleecing of pilgrims by the contractors at the pilgrim centre.

Though the TDB has fixed a user fee of Rs.2 at the pay-and-use latrines at Sabarimala, there were allegations of contractors fleecing the pilgrims by charging Rs.10 to Rs.15 during the rush days.

The queue before the latrine blocks at Pandithavalom remains a sad testimony to the grossly inadequate basic facility at the holy hillock. Special Officer appointed by the government K. Jayakumar too expressed concern over the shortage of comfort stations at the Sannidhanam.

The total number of latrines at the Sannidhanam where as many as 15 lakh people used to camp during the peak days of the festival season was only 1,200, according to official sources. Many pilgrims complained of fleecing at the hands of the latrine-operators at Pandithavalom. The pilgrims were reportedly made to wait before the latrine blocks, by temporarily closing down a portion of the comfort station with the dubious design to fleece them by raising the `demand’.

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