The Centre has sanctioned Rs.100 crore for providing basic infrastructure facilities at Sabarimala, according to Jolly Ullas, chief engineer of the high-power committee (HPC) for implementation of the Sabarimala Master Plan.
Talking to The Hindu , Mr. Ullas said the Union Tourism Department had allotted the fund as part of its spiritual tourism promotion in Kerala. Central Tourism consultant Vaibhav Prakasham, a team of officials attached to the Kerala Tourism Department, Travancore Devaswom Board president Prayar Gopalakrishnan, and Mr. Ullas visited Sabarimala and Erumeli as part of a preliminary site inspection on Monday.
The projects proposed at Sabarimala under the Swadeshi Darshan programme of the Union government are a 300-member toilet complex at Pampa, a reverse osmosis plant, pilgrim shelters, solid waste management and a new sewage treatment plant at Pampa, e-toilets, and bio-urinals along the trekking path, paving of granite blocks on the concrete steps along the Pampa-Sannidhanam traditional path, and modernisation of the Appam-Aravana plants, Mr. Ullas said.
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The Rs.100-crore package was initiated by Union Minister for Culture and Tourism Mahesh Sharma on the basis of a memorandum filed by the TDB president.
Mr. Ullas said providing toilets on the Erumeli-Karimala-Pampa traditional forest path, setting up of a pilgrim shelter and information centre at Erumeli were the other major components of the proposed Centrally sponsored Sabarimala development programme.
HPC chairman K. Jayakumar left for Delhi on Tuesday for holding further discussions on the project with the Central Tourism authorities.
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