With hardly 48 hours left for the beginning of the Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season at Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala situated in the Periyar Tiger Reserve, Travancore Devaswom Board as well as various Government departments and agencies are busy making the last-minute arrangements for the smooth conduct of the two-month-long annual festival.
The sacred grove of Lord Ayyappa has become a beehive of activities.
Traders have started pitching sheds to open refreshment stalls and other make-shift shops at Nilackal base camp, Pampa and at select points along the Pampa-Sannidhanam trekking path.
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The Sabarimala Executive Officer, V.S.Jayakumar, told The Hindu that the Aravana preparation was progressing in fulswing at he modern plant at the Sannidhanam.
According to Mr Jayakumar, the total Aravana production has already crossed 23 lakh cans (250 ml each) as on Sunday morning and TDB is planning to keep a buffer stock of 25 lakh cans of Aravana by the time the temple opens for the pilgrim season on Tuesday afternoon.
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He said the plant would remain close for a few hours for cleaning on Tuesday.
The Appam production too has crossed three lakh packets as on Sunday morning and the board is planning to produce as many as six lakh packets of Appam by Tuesday afternoon. Mr Jayakumar said special case has been taken to ensure the quality of both Aravana and Appam.
He said 10 Appam /Aravana sales counters would be opened at the Sannidhanam, besides an exclusive pre-paid counter.
Mr Jayakumar said TDB has made arrangements to accommodate as many as 10,000 pilgrims at its pilgrim shelters as well as donor rooms at the Sannidhanam, besides the accommodation facility in place for the staff on duty during the pilgrimage season.
As many as 33 tractors have been pressed into service on the trekking path for transporting goods between Pampa and the Sannidhanam. This is besides the pack-donkeys deployed for goods transportation at Sabarimala.
Official sources told the Hindu that as many as 300 pack-donkeys have been brought to Pampa by a contractor for transporting provisions from Pampa to Sannidhanam for the prasadom preparation at the Aravana and Appam plants.
Repair and maintenance
Mr K.Ravikumar, TDB Chief Engineer, told The Hindu that the repair and maintenance of various TDB buildings at Sabarimala and at various base camps, including Nilackal, Erumely and Pandalam, have been completed.
As many as 3000 toilets would be made available at Sannidhanam, Pampa and Nilackal during the forthcoming pilgrim season, he said.
According to Narayanan Nambeesan and Jolly Ullas , Executive Engineers at Pampa and Sanidhanam, the work on the giant resting place-cum-Nadappanthal on the Pampa Manalpuram, sponsored by the Chennai-based Kumaran Silks Limited, was fast progressing.
Karnataka Chief Minister, B.S.Yediyurappa, is most likely to inaugurate the 20,000 ft resting place constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 80 lakhs on Wednesday.
Mr Ullas said roofing work of the Sannidhanam-Malikappuram fly-over has been completed and arrangements have been made to provide separate queue for Neyyabhishekom in an effort to ease congestion during the rush days.
Mr Nambeesan said widening work on the Pampa-Sabaripeedhom stretch of the trekking path has been completed. He said maintenance of all the incinerators installed at Pampa, Sannidhanam and Nilackal have been completed so as to start its operation from the beginning of the pilgrim season.
He said Public Works Department too has completed the repair and maintenance of the buildings that houses various Government hospitals at Sabarimala and Pampa.
Kerala Water Authority has started cleaning and maintenance of its pump houses, storage tanks, etc.
Kerala State Electricity Board workers have started street lighting work at Nilackal, Pampa, Sannidhanam and on the trekking path. KSEB has also taken steps to release Sabarigiri dam water, if water level in Pampa lowers beyond the desirable level, board sources said.
Police, Fire and Rescue Force, Health department, Pollution Control Board, have also been engaged in setting up their own seasonal units at Sabarimala.
CM to review arrangements today
Chief Minister, V.S.Achuthanandan, will convene a meeting at Pampa on Monday afternoon to review the arrangements being made for the pilgrim season by various departments and the TDB.
The Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sanghom stretcher service headed by Mr Thanchavur Damodaran has already started operations from its main camp at the Sannidhanam. ABASS has already opened camps opened camps at Pampa and Sannidhanam.