Government goes ahead with Supreme Court fiat execution

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Notwithstanding the protests of Hindu outfits, the government is firm on going ahead with putting in place elaborate arrangements and facilities for woman devotees ahead of the festival season at Sabarimala. 

Devaswom board authorities will visit Nilackal on Friday to discuss the arrangements to be made at the base camp. On Monday the district administration will hold a meeting to discuss the security arrangements required at Nilackal, Pamba and Sabarimala.

Besides ensuring safety of women devotees, sufficient number of policemen would be required to deal with agitations that the district administration anticipates during the season. 

The priority is for arranging toilets, bathrooms and drinking water facilities. The government has already announced that additional 20 lakh litres of water will be arranged for devotees. "We have elaborate drinking water facilities at Pampa. But the base camp has now been shifted to Nilackal post floods so tanker lorries will be arranged to bring water from Pampa," said Pathanamthitta collector P.B. Nooh.

The district administration has already had a couple of rounds of discussions with the KSRTC for arranging adequate number of buses for the devotees.  Since no vehicle will be allowed beyond Nilackal, KSRTC buses will be required in large numbers.

Travancore Devaswom Board president A.Padmakumar said there were limitations in arranging all facilities in this short period. At the moment there are 1000 toilets and bathrooms in Sabarimala and it would not be possible to increase number at this stage. "We cannot increase the toilets because there is only one sewage treatment plant at Sabarimala. Constructing a new one will require at least six months to a year," he added. 

Pink colour toiles are being constructed for women. A pandal with a capacity of accommodating 4000 women at a time is also being set up. "Only those women who follow the rituals and conventions of Sabarimala are expected to visit the temple," he said. 

Padmakumar said the board had informed the court that a 40 per cent increase is expected in the number of devotees post verdict. "We have 59 acres of land of which 36 acres is temple and other buildings. We will not be able to accommodate the additional devotees in the remaining 23 acres. We will approach the court with the demand for 100 more acres in Sabarimala and 100 hectares (247 acres) in Nilackal," he said.

The board president is keeping his fingers crossed over managing the rush at Sannidhanam and pathinettam padi (18 steps leading to sanctum sanctorum). "In normal case 36 to 40 devotees climb the steps per minute. With the help of police it can be raised to 75 and last year we managed even 92 per minute," he said. Padmakumar said the board would take all steps to provide all facilities at the earliest.