The Kerala High Court came down heavily on the Travancore Devaswom Board over poor crowd management measures at Sabarimala on Wednesday. The high court's criticisms come after a large crowd was witnessed during the initial days of mandala season this year, leading to chaos.
Making serious observations about the situation at the hill shrine, the high court observed that the situation got out of control due to a lack of proper coordination among the officials. Asking why the Board did not adhere to its earlier directions, the high court asked why necessary works for the pilgrimage season were not completed six months ago.
As per reports, about two lakh devotees reached the Sabarimala Ayyappa shrine within 48 hours of the temple opening for the mandala season on November 17. The unexpected spike in crowd, overwhelmed TDB and police, as they struggled to manage pilgrims, including children, on Tuesday.
Newly appointed TDB chairman K. Jayakumar said the situation is under control now, and crowd management measures are in place. Jayakumar, who was also the former chief secretary of the state, said steps have been taken to ensure refreshments are provided to pilgrims in the queue.
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Conceding to the court's observation that preparations should have been indeed taken six months ago, Jayakumar said the queue complexes would be put to use soon.
Asking why so many people were allowed into the temple area at the same time, the high court suggested that dividing pilgrims into separate sectors might help manage the crowd better, instead of pushing everyone forward together, which it said was unsafe. |
