Pathanamthitta: In light of the increase in the number of devotees at Lord Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala here, the Kerala High Court is considering appointing a 12-member legal team to study the congestion at the pilgrimage centre. A legal team will be appointed to study the grievances of devotees in this regard and assess the facilities for the pilgrims. The court also observed that 5,000 to 10,000 people climb Sabarimala every day without booking slots.
The legal team will visit queue complexes and other resting places and prepare the report. Advocates Lekha Suresh and Raman Kartha had explained in the court the difficulties they faced when they visited Sabarimala for darshan last week. They reported to the court that the facilities were inadequate at all places including queue complexes. The court's move follows this report.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Anil K Narendran and Justice P G Ajith Kumar asked whether a team of lawyers would have to be appointed to monitor the situation and submit a report. However, the government explained that action would be taken on the complaints and there was no need to deploy a team of lawyers now.
The court has also directed authorities to arrange food at places including Ilavunkal. The court also observed that there was no such long wait for darshan last year after comparing the numbers.
Meanwhile, the Travancore Devaswom Board informed the court about the measures taken for the pilgrims. The TDB on Sunday decided to increase the 'darshan' timings at the Lord Ayyappa shrine in Sabarimala by an hour following an increase in the number of devotees arriving for pilgrimage there. With this, it will be possible to have darshan for 18 hours a day. The Board decided to modify the darshan timings in the second half of the day from 3 pm to 11 pm instead of from 4 pm to 11 pm, an official from the district administration said. The official also said that water and biscuits were being provided to devotees waiting in the queues for darshan.
The court also sought a report from the Pathanamthitta Enforcement RTO on the parking pattern at Nilakkal and the traffic restrictions on the Ilavunkal-Laha and Ilavunkal-Kanamala route beyond Nilackkal.
The government also said it has ensured that there will not be any rush in pilgrim sheds and queue complexes and that an adequate number of policemen have also been deployed.The counsel for the Travancore Devaswom Board said that special queues have been arranged for children, senior citizens, and those with physical disabilities.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan alleged the facilities for devotees were inadequate with pilgrims having to wait 15 to 20 hours for darshan. He claimed that devotees were not even being provided water.
Many devotees were seen on TV channels complaining that they had been standing in queues for more than 10-12 hours for darshan. Pilgrims were also seen stuck in traffic jams along the route to Sabarimala.
IG Sparjan Kumar, who is supervising the security arrangements at Sabarimala, said that police requested the TDB to restrict the number of devotees to 75,000 per day.
He said that during the present third phase of the pilgrimage, the number of devotees shot up with around 90,000 bookings being made through virtual queue and nearly 30,000 via spot booking each day.
In addition, there are more children, women and elderly people this time and these have affected the efforts to make devotees climb the Pathinettampadi (18 divine steps) quickly, the officer said.
The annual 41-day Mandalam-Makaravilakkku pilgrimage to the hilltop shrine began on November 16, the first day of the auspicious Malayalam month of Vrichikam.
To ensure a safe and smooth pilgrimage for all devotees, the government introduced a dynamic queue-control system this season to manage crowding at 'Sannidhanam'.
