Sabarimala, Pampa not yet pollution-free

SABARIMALA: Sabarimala still faces pollution issues though the use of plastic has been banned  as part of the  cleanliness programme  titled  ‘Punyam Poonkavanam.’   The initiative  is led by a group of police officers under the leadership of ASI Shibu F. Paul from Wayanad and  assisted by the volunteers of Ayyappa Seva Sanghom. The message that ‘cleanliness is godliness’ is spread to promote ‘responsible pilgrimage’ and keep Sabarimala and Pampa river clean. But Pampa still remains polluted  through the  dumping of  aluminium cans of soft drinks  en-route to the temple  and Sannidhanam.

Litter along the route to Sannidhanam. (Photo: DC)

“This is the major issue we face now,” Mr. Paul told DC.  The shops and  vendors at Pampa and Sannidhanam sell  soft drinks  in aluminium cans. “These cans and plastic biscuit foils should be banned on the premises of Pampa and Sannidhanam. Though the use of soaps and throwing of clothes in the river have  been banned, discarded leaves and flowers  as part of ‘tharpanam’ have become the major pollutants,” the volunteers said. There is need to prevent the  pilgrims from throwing   discarded  cans  in the forest on either side of the path  to keep Sabarimala free of  pollution, they said.

The ‘copra’ fields of Sabarimala

The Travancore Devaswom Board earns crores of rupees through the coconuts offered by the Ayyappa devotees at Sabarimala.  The Ayyappa temple and the  Ganapathy shrine at Pampa get millions of coconuts every season which are sold off to buyers. This time the tender was bagged by  Mr Velanchira Sukumaran, 60,  from Kayamkulam  for Rs 4.96 crore. The devotees break the coconuts at the start of the Rs 18 steps’ as offering  to the deity.   The  broken coconuts  are carried  to an underground tunnel that leads to a copra (dry coconut) field outside the temple compound.

There, some  650 labourers under seven group leaders work round-the-clock baking and shelling the pieces which are  transported to various places in the state. Velanchira Sukumaran  got the tender for Rs 3.55 crore  for the coconuts  at Sannidhanam and  Rs 1.41 crore for that at Pampa. “I have a total of 650 employees at  both Pampa and Sannidhanam. Most of them are from Manappally and Adoor working  under a supervisor  for years,”  Sukumaran told DC. The underground tunnel was constructed some 15 years back. The coconuts are  drained,  steamed in seven kilns, shelled and then dried in electric driers.

The shelling workers get Rs 350 as a base salary for five  containers  of coconuts and an additional Rs 35 each for extra containers. “The coconut should be shelled within 24 hours of breaking it. Otherwise it will get rotten. So we work round-the- clock. The ‘copra’ is packed at the rate of 51 kg in each bag and is transported down to Pampa in tractors. The goods are  then distributed to our buyers at Pampa itself,” Mr. Sukumaran added.   Over 90 loads of copra of 10 tonnes each are  collected and transported by him every pilgrim season.

5 hurt in mishap at Aravana bottling plant

As many as five temporary workers with the Aravana production unit at Sannidhanam were inflicted with burn injuries when a joint of a pipe carrying processed aravana to the cooling chamber detached with explosion on wee hours of Saturday. The injured have been identified as Aneesh (27) of Pathikulam, Nanniyodu in Palakkad; Soman (58) of Kakkantayyath, Ambalathinbhagom, Kollam; Udayan (41) of Kula-t-hin Kizhakkathil, Muthupilakkad, Sasthamkotta; Vishnu (24) of Vishnu Bhavan, Ivarkala, Kunnathoor; Sasikumar 36) of Preetha Mandiram, Thevalappuram.

Of the injured, Aneesh who was working close to the joint that exploded got inflicted with serious burns on his face and has been taken to Pathanamthitta general hospital and then to the Kottayam medical college for expert care. The others have been given first aid at the Sannidhanam Government hospital. The joint detached with a loud explosion and hot aravana spilled over the workers who were on duty. The explosion like noise at first spread panic in the production unit. The production resumed after the issue was rectified by technical team. Over five liters of aravana was lost in the accident, it is estimated. Meanwhile, Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran has ordered for a report on the issue and the Government secretary Jyothilal has been entitled with the inquiry. The Minister will also visit the spot.