The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) will repair the Pampa-Sannidhanam Swami Ayyapan Road by concreting the badly damaged portions on a war-footing, Devaswom Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran has said.
The decision was taken at a meeting of various department heads and board officials convened by Mr. Ramachandran here on Saturday to review the arrangements for the annual Sabarimala pilgrimage.
Mr. Ramachandran said the government was bound to complete the repair and maintenance work on various roads leading to Sabarimala before November 15. He said special government permission would be ensured, if needed, for the time-bound completion of the work.
He said cooperation and coordination among various government agencies and the TDB were necessary for the smooth conduct of the pilgrimage.
An official representing the Forest Department informed the meeting that the department had not opposed concreting of Swami Ayyappan Road as in the case of the Marakkottom-Sannidhanam Chandranandan Road.
Mr. Ramachandran said Aravana preparation was on in full swing at the Sannidhanam to ensure that at least 25 lakh containers were in buffer stock when the temple opened for the pilgrimage on November 16.
He said waste management was another major problem. The government and the board had taken a number of steps to tackle it.
Photo identity cards would be issued to all employees and workers at various offices and business establishments at Sabarimala.
The construction work at General Hospital, Pathanamthitta, would be completed before November 15. The Health Department informed that a CT scanner would be installed at the hospital.
He said the National Disaster Response Force and the Rapid Action Force of the Central Reserve Police Force, besides the State police, would be deployed at Sabarimala and Pampa.
He said the police would set up an Internet-linked pilgrim information system to provide information on the crowd situation at Sabarimala.
Anto Antony, MP, and K. Sivadasan Nair, MLA, stressed the need for a permanent solution to the pollution at Sabarimala.
Mr. Ramachandran said direct chemical treatment of the Njunangar water would not be permitted at Pampa as the devotees and various environment groups had expressed deep concern over its toxic effects on the entire river system.
P.T. Thomas, MP; Joseph M. Puthuserry, K.C. Rajagopalan, Raju Abraham, MLAs; K. Cicily, TDB member; K. Ravikumar, TDB chief engineer; S. Lalithambika, District Collector; Balakiran, Thiruvalla Sub-Collector; Krishnankutty, Adoor revenue divisional officer; and H. Salimraj, Additional District Magistrate, attended the meeting.
