The High Power Committee (HPC) on Sabarimala has accorded priority to drinking water supply, Annadanam (free feeding of devotees), sewage treatment and sanitation in projects conceived as part of the Sabarimala Master Plan, said committee chairman and former Chief Secretary K. Jayakumar.
Talking to The Hindu , Mr. Jayakumar said the HPC had made alternative arrangements to provide safe and scientifically treated drinking water at the Sannidhanam, Nilackal, Pampa, and along the trekking paths in the wake of the ban on plastic bottles by the Kerala High Court.
He said the HPC, Kerala Water Authority (KWA), and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) had made arrangements to supply 70,000 litres an hour of safe drinking water at Sabarimala and its base camps at Pampa and Nilackal through 350 water kiosks that would be set up during the annual pilgrim season.
Mr. Jayakumar said the HPC had constructed a full-fledged Annadana Mandapam at Pampa, which will be operational from Wednesday.
He said a 80,000-sq-ft modern Annadana Mandapam with capacity to serve food to 5,000 persons was under construction at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam.
However, the HPC had made necessary arrangements at its ground floor by utilising 30,000 sq ft to conduct Annadanam this year. Mr. Jayakumar said the modern Annadana Mandapam would be completed by Vishu in April and made fully operational by November 10, 2017.
Queue complex
He said the police had been instructed to utilise the queue complex on the Marakkoottom-Saramkuthy stretch of the trekking
path for better crowd management by regulating pilgrim inflow in batches inside the self-contained halls.
STP at Sannidhanam
Mr. Jayakumar said all necessary rectifications and corrections on the 5 mld modern sewage treatment plant (STP) and its sewer line network at the Sannidhanam, established in October, 2015, had been completed. The STP at the Sannidhanam can effectively manage treatment of sewage generated at the Sannidhanam.
He said a concrete sewage tank with capacity to hold six lakh litres had been constructed at Pampa to minimise contamination of the Pampa river to a considerable extent.
