The Kerala high court on Wednesday sharply censured the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) for failing to make adequate arrangements for crowd management in the premises of the Sabarimala temple and ordered improvements in accommodation, sanitation, drinking water and crowd management.
The bench of justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar said the situation at the shrine had recently spiralled out of control as nearly 200,000 pilgrims arrived within 48 hours of the temple opening on November 16.
Petitioners said pilgrims had to wait in queues for hours without adequate food or drinking water, and there was also crowd mismanagement near the 18 holy steps.
The Sabarimala Sree Ayyappa temple opened on November 16 for the annual two-month-long Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage, during which lakhs of people flow into the hill-shrine.
The bench pointed to lack of coordination among officials including those belonging to the TDB and the police, resulting in the massive crowds.
“Many of the necessary works should have been completed six months ago,” the court observed, questioning why so many people were allowed into the temple area at the same time.
Sharing the concerns raised by the Bench, newly appointed TDB chairman K Jayakumar admitted that preparations should indeed have been taken six months earlier.
{{/usCountry}}Sharing the concerns raised by the Bench, newly appointed TDB chairman K Jayakumar admitted that preparations should indeed have been taken six months earlier.
{{/usCountry}}“There were two reasons for the chaos (on Tuesday). One, the earlier council had made a lot of preparations and taken some decisions, but some were not implemented on the ground during the intervening period. Two, it is true that we did not expect so many pilgrims to arrive on the first two days of the pilgrimage. There will not be a situation where any pilgrim will have to go back without offering prayers,” Jayakumar told local media.
It suggested that pilgrims be divided into separate sectors and be allowed to move rather than being allowed in at the same time.
Turning to the contentions in the petitions, the court noted severe shortages across essential services.
It ordered the TDB to install additional eco-friendly bio-toilets from Nilakkal to Sannidhanam and to ensure that “each toilet unit shall be manned by a dedicated attendant” to maintain hygiene.
The court directed that 200 of the 423 available rooms at Sannidhanam must be reserved exclusively for online booking to ensure “transparency, accessibility, and equal opportunity”.
Authorities must ensure “uninterrupted availability of safe and adequate drinking water” at Sannidhanam, Pamba and the trekking path, it said.
Leader of the opposition VD Satheesan blamed the State and the TDB for not carrying out any preparatory works before the annual pilgrimage season.
“Pilgrims stood in queues for 10-15 hours. There was no one to control crowds. There was no drinking water or adequate water to be used in toilets. The government has intentionally disrupted the pilgrimage by doing nothing in terms of preparatory works,” he alleged.
(With PTI inputs)