In view of a sudden rise in incidents of animal encounters on the Sabarimala route, the Forest Department has initiated measures to enforce a strict ban on trekking through the traditional forest route from Erumeli during night hours.
Over the past five days, there were two major incidents of wild elephant attacks, which left one dead and several others injured. In both instances, the attack took place when the pilgrims ventured into the forest in violation of a directive of the Forest Department.
“There has been a steady rise in the number of pilgrims over the last few days. Taking serious note of the situation, an additional team of officers drawn from various range officers and headed by the Divisional Forest Officer (Flying Squad) has been deployed in the region,” said Jayakumar, Range Forest Officer, Erumeli.
Further, the assistance of the local police has been sought to prevent entry of pilgrim groups into the forest from Erumeli.
According to the official, the pilgrims seem to be giving scant regard to the directive not to venture into the forest after 6 p.m and use the overnight stay centres en route.
With only a day left for the Makaravilakku festival, the number of pilgrims trekking the 21-km route here has risen. As at 5.30 p.m. on Saturday, around 75,000 pilgrims had passed through the Kalaketty point, a major transit station along the route, over the past 24 hours.
Pass system in disarray
The influx of pilgrims has also thrown into disarray the pass-issue system set up by the police to check unauthorised movement through the reserve forest surrounding the hill shrine.
Official estimates with the Forest Department suggested that only 1.45 lakh pilgrims had used the route so far this season as against 4 lakh reported during the entire season last year. Similarly, about 97% of those who trekked the route so far this season are inter-State pilgrims.
Despite the heavy rush, the department has been left with little facilities to manage the crowd. For instance, the 7-km stretch between Koyikkal and Kalaketty, a reserve forest region under the Erumeli Range, is currently managed by a batch of less than 10 officers. Further, there are no vehicles allotted to the officers on duty here , making their lives even harder in case of emergencies, pointed out a senior officer.
