The Hindu : Kerala News : Pampa water level falls

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Monday, Jan 14, 2008
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Kerala

Pampa water level falls

Staff Reporter

Waters at bathing ghat and Triveni stagnant for three days

Sad state: The Pampa in a bad shape on Sunday morning.

SABARIMALA: Water level in the Pampa was down drastically by Sunday morning causing difficulties to pilgrims taking the customary dip (Pampa-snanom) before undertaking the trek to the holly hillock.

Though the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) had reportedly agreed to release water from the Kullar dam in the upstream on alternate days during the last lap of the Makaravilakku festival, the waters at the bathing ghat as well as Triveni have been stagnant for the past three days.

Many pilgrims were found lying down on the river bed for the customary holy dip in the stagnant water. Meanwhile, KSEB sources said the Kullar dam water would be released on Sunday.

Congestion

Vehicular traffic on the crowded Pampa-Manalpuram road has been causing much inconvenience to the pilgrims, especially during rush hours.

A sixty-year-old pilgrim from Andhra Pradesh was injured when a private jeep ran over his feet on Manalpuram road on Saturday evening.

Aravana black market

Black marketing of Aravana at the Sannidhanam is another issue facing the pilgrims during the Makaravilakku season. The serpentine queue before the prasadam counters to purchase Aravana has been forcing many a pilgrim to purchase the prasadam ‘freely available’ outside the counters.

A 250 ml can of Aravana costs Rs.100 to 120 in the black market while it costs only Rs.50 at the Devaswom counter.

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