Lack of facilities have been plaguing the base camp at Nilackal, leaving the pilgrims as well as the vehicle crew camping there in a pitiable condition.
Water scarcity is the worst problem facing the camp. At present, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) brings water from river Pampa in tanker lorries to Nilackal as the proposed water supply project remains a non-starter, despite the completion of the check dam in the Kaduvathode stream.
Though the high power committee has completed the work on the check dam at Nilackal, the storage tank as part of the water supply project still remain incomplete.
Many toilets at the base camp remain close during night as the contractors keep them open only between 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. owing to water scarcity.
Toilets remain closedMany pilgrims complain that except in the blocks A-1 and A-2, all the toilet complexes remain closed during night hours, adding misery to their already troubled stay at the camp.
Contractors say that cleaning the toilets has become a major problem due to the water scarcity.
Though the drivers retiring complex at Nilackal has been completed a few months ago, the authorities concerned have failed to throw it open for reasons best known to them.
The drivers have to camp inside their vehicles, braving the hot sun, chilling cold, and rain, till the pilgrims return from Sabarimala.
