The safe zone monitoring cell, floated by the Kerala State Road Safety Authority and the Motor Vehicles Department, has recorded a 20% increase in vehicular movement on Sabarimala roads this Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrim season compared to the previous season.
Safe Zone Special Officer and former Regional Transport Officer P.D. Sunilbabu told The Hindu that 45 lakh to 50 lakh vehicles of different categories, including two and three-wheelers, reached Pampa, Erumely, Vandipperiyar Sathram, Kozhikkanam, and Nilackal during the past 60 days. The safe zone cell was set up to ensure safety of pilgrims on roads leading to Sabarimala.
Besides this, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation conducted more than 19,000 services from its depot at Pampa to different parts of the State and 42,000 Pampa-Nilackal chain services, he said.
Free repair of vehicles
Mr. Sunilbabu said various vehicle makers had provided the service of their vehicle repair and maintenance teams to the Safe Zone authority to facilitate free repair of vehicles carrying pilgrims. These teams had attended 6,047 breakdowns from the safe zone office at Elavumkal during the past 60 days, he said, adding that mechanics attached to different companies had repaired 10,454 vehicles on various Sabarimala roads.
Mr. Sunilbabu said the total distance covered by the safe zone patrolling squads crossed 4,50,000 km during the past 60 days.
Though 238 road accidents had been reported on the Sabarimala roads during the past two months, only one casualty was reported and that in the Mundakayam-Kuttikkanam sector, he said. A total of 2,879 persons sustained serious injuries and 3,728 minor injuries in the accidents involving vehicles carrying pilgrims, he said.
IG A. Hemachandran, who was presently the KSRTC Managing Director, said the safe zone cell, police, and KSRTC had offered well co-ordinated service to the pilgrims this time.
