Several key issues remain to be addressed at Sabarimala

With hardly three months left for the Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrim season, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is undertaking his maiden visit to Sabarimala on Thursday to review the arrangements for the smooth conduct of the pilgrim season.

Mr. Vijayan, accompanied by his Cabinet colleagues Mathew T. Thomas, G. Sudhakaran, A.K. Saseendran, K. Raju, and Kadakampally Surendran, and Ranni MLA Raju Abraham, will reach Pampa in the morning and convene a meeting of the heads of various departments in the afternoon.

The Chief Minister will have to look into various key issues facing the sacred grove and the pilgrims visiting the temple.

Unscientific construction has been the bane of the pilgrim centre situated in the ecologically sensitive forest tracts. Even the high-power committee (HPC) for implementation of the Sabarimala master plan seems to have failed to stop the conversion of the hillock into a concrete jungle.

Absence of adequate basic facilities such as safe food, water, and shelter is a major problem facing Sabarimala. With the ban on plastic and PET bottles in force, the absence of alternative arrangements to ensure adequate supply of safe drinking water is sure to leave the pilgrims high and dry.

The proposal to augment the capacity of the Kunnar dam, aimed at addressing the drinking water problem at Sabarimala, remains a non-starter.

A foolproof mechanism needs to be put in place to ensure the safety of food, beverages, and drinking water supplied at the Annadana mandapams of the Travancore Devaswom Board and other agencies.

Annadanam by various organisations of devotees is yet to be permitted at Sabarimala and Pampa with a view to avoiding monopolisation of the service by a single agency.

The HPC and TDB need to make sure that the modern sewage treatment plant (STP) commissioned at Sabarimala in November, 2015, functions properly from at least this pilgrim season with a view to reducing the pollution of the Pampa. The proposed STP project at Pampa remains to be executed in a time-bound manner.

Provision for more free bio-urinals and latrines along the trekking path and at various points at Pampa and Sabarimala has been a demand of the devotees.

The dispute between the Forest Department and the TDB over the forestland allotted for Sabarimala development is another issue. The TDB has got 67.5 acres of forestland in its possession at Sabarimala and has moved the Centre, seeking allotment of 500 acres more for providing basic pilgrim facilities as recommended by the Public Accounts Committee.

Lack of coordination among different government departments, agencies, and the Travancore Devaswom Board had put the pilgrims to untold hardships during the previous pilgrim season. The recent trade union issues relating to loading, unloading, and transportation of goods from Pampa to Sannidhanam too will come up for discussion at the Chief Minister’s meeting on Thursday.