Kerala   

Pilgrims’ death: VS for ex gratia to kin

SABARIMALA: Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan has called upon the Travancore Devaswom Board to explore the possibility of providing financial assistance of at least Rs. 10 lakh each to the families of pilgrims, who died at Sabarimala during the annual Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival season.

Mr. Achuthanandan was inaugurating the emergency operation theatre set up by the Health Department at Sabarimala Sannidhanam, at a cost of Rs. 50 lakh, on Monday.

Responding to the Chief Minister’s proposal, TDB president C.K. Gupthan said the Board would meet soon to discuss the suggestion and would implement it after getting the mandatory clearance from the Kerala High Court.

According to Mr. Achuthanandan, the 41-day Mandalam festival was by and large problem-free, when compared to the previous year, barring certain unforeseen issues relating to ‘aravana’ distribution, drinking water supply and sanitation.

He said the government had appointed a senior IAS officer K. Jayakumar as Special Officer at Sabarimala to address problems of pilgrims. He said the intervention of the Special Officer had brought the ‘aravana’ crisis under control, besides rectifying technical flaws in crowd management by bolstering police force during the last lap of the Mandalam festival when the Sannidhanam witnessed unprecedented rush of devotees. Mr. Achuthanandan said the KSEB has agreed to release sufficient water from its dams in the upstream of Pampa when directed by the Special Officer during the pilgrim season.

On the occasion, Mr. Jayakumar said the setting up of an emergency operation theatre at Sannidhanam amply reflected the government’s will to extend efficient medical care to pilgrims.

Devaswom Minister G. Sudhakaran lauded the service of the police force at Sabarimala. Sudhakaran said the Guruvayur Devaswom had launched a free food distribution scheme, estimated at Rs. 70 lakh, for Sabarimala pilgrims at four places during the Makaravilakku festival. Nilackal, Pandalam, Erumely and Guruvayur are the four places identified for the facility.

Transport Minister Mathew T. Thomas said the KSRTC had been operating sufficient number of buses between Pampa and various towns all over the State.

P.K. Sreemathy, Health Minister, presided over the function. Francis George, MP, Raju Abraham, MLA, Viswas Mehta, Health Secretary, and N.N.Murali, District Medical Officer, also spoke.

The DMO who was retiring from service on Sunday was presented with a memento by the Chief Minister.

Special Commissioner appointed by the High Court M. Rajendran Nair, K.C.Rajagopalan, MLA, P.Narayanan, P.K.Sumathykutty Amma, TDB members, Raju Narayanaswamy, District Collector and K. Ananthagopan, CPI(M) district secretary, also attended the meeting.

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