‘Barricades inside queue complex inconvenient to pilgrims’

Sabarimala High Power Committee (HPC) chairman K. Jayakumar said here on Sunday that the construction of barricades inside the queue complexes along the Marakkoottom-Saramkuthy path to the Sabarimala Sannidhanam would ultimately defeat the purpose of allowing pilgrims to rest for a while during their long wait for darshan at the Ayyappa Temple.

According to Mr Jayakumar, the police had failed to utilise all the six queue complexes constructed by the HPC well before the previous pilgrimage season. And this year, the police had suggested certain alterations such as erection of barricades inside the queue complex to channelise the pilgrim flow.

The HPC proposal was to facilitate passage of pilgrims through these self-contained complexes, channelising them from one segment to the other, so that they do not feel tired during their long wait. The queue complexes are supposed to house light refreshment stalls, toilets, drinking water kiosks, etc.

However, there were complaints that certain police personnel had taken ‘custody’ of the toilets attached to a queue complex, the HPC chairman said. He said there were also reports that a section of the Police force deployed at Marakkoottom had been using a queue complex as their retiring facility.

Mr. Jayakumar said he would apprise the Chief Minister about the prevailing state of affairs at the queue complexes at Sabarimala.

Sewage treatment

Mr. Jayakumar said he expected considerable reduction in the pollution status of the Pampa after the modern sewage treatment plant at Sabarimala started normal functioning this month.

He said State Pollution Control Board chairman N. Sajeevan too had expressed satisfaction about the functioning of the STP after he inspected the plant 10 days ago.

Annadana Mandapam

He said the three-storey modern Annadana Mandapam with state-of-the-art kitchen at Sabarimala would be completed by April. He said the Mandapam with seating capacity of 5,000 persons, when completed, would be the largest of its kind in the country.

He said the HPC meeting scheduled for December 14 at Sabarimala would discuss the tender formalities on the proposed Nadappanthal refurbishment project as well as the proposal to construct a new sewage treatment plant at Pampa.

He said the HPC had given top priority for projects ensuring effective sanitation, cleanliness and hygiene at Sabarimala.

A giant storage tank with a capacity to store eight lakh litres of sewage has been constructed at the Pampa Manalpuram.

Travancore Devaswom Baord (TDB) member Ajay Tharayl said the TDB and HPC were for constructing a new fly-over, linking Malikappuram with the Chandranandan Road, in a time-bound manner.