Collector asked to resolve travel woes of Sabarimala pilgrims at Pampa

Kochi: The Kerala High Court has directed the District Collector of Pathanamthitta to implement measures to ease the difficulties faced by Sabarimala pilgrims to board buses of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) at Pampa. The court issued the directive based on a report by ‘Manorama Online’ which said that even pilgrims who had done group bookings from Pampa were not allotted separate buses.

During the hearing on Saturday, the advocate representing the state government told a High Bench comprising Justices Anil K Narendran and K P Ajith Kumar that the matter was already brought to the notice of the District Collector. The court said that the necessary measures could be taken after discussions with the District Police Chief, Sabarimala Special Commissioner, KSRTC special officer and executive engineer of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the affairs of the Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala.

Frequent mishaps
Meanwhile, the court posted for Wednesday the hearing on a plea regarding the regular accidents involving vehicles carrying Sabarimala pilgrims from neighbouring states. An official of the Kerala Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) will submit a report over the issue that day.

The court considered the petition after a vehicle from Tamil Nadu skidded off the road and overturned at Kannimala in Kottayam at 3.15 pm on December 16, leading to the death of a 10-year-old pilgrim and injuries to 13 others.

Two other vehicles of pilgrims also had met with accidents in recent days. Following an accident involving a vehicle from Andhra Pradesh, MVD’s enforcement officers have been visiting Sabarimala, resting places (‘edathavalams’) on the route to the temple and locations where free food (‘annadanam’) is offered to create awareness among drivers about the condition of the Sabarimala roads. This was based on an earlier directive of the High Court’s division bench.

Parking troubles
In view of the hassles faced by pilgrims in parking vehicles, the court asked Devaswom Board to produce layouts of the 16 parking spaces at Nilakkal. The police inspector at Nilakkal was also made a respondent in the case.