The Kerala government will urge the Union government to provide 500 hectares of forestland from the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Pampa-Sannidhanam region for the development of Sabarimala.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting held at the behest of Devaswom Minister V.S. Sivakumar here on Wednesday for preparing a project report to be submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for declaring Sabarimala a national pilgrim centre. The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament had made a similar recommendation earlier. The meeting finalised 15 points to be included in the report. It demanded 500 hectares of land and adequate financial support for making Nilackal a base camp, and Rs.1,250 crore for implementing the Sabarimala master plan.
Clearance has been sought for executing the second phase of the action plan for cleaning the Pampa. The meeting sought financial assistance for the Nilackal-Pampa monorail project and inclusion of Sabarimala in the Pilgrim Rejuvenation and Development project of the Union government.
Financial support has been sought for improving pilgrim amenities at Nilackal.
