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No hospital at Sabarimala though it earns Rs 30 billion

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

Though reports on the actual cause of the tragedy that claimed 52 lives in Kerala's Sabarimala temple are divided, many feel it could have been avoided if the authorities had taken enough precautions.

A substantial increase in the number of pilgrims this season was anticipated due to the gold covering of the temple's sanctum sanctorum -- but the government and the Travancore Dewaswom Board, which administers the temple, failed to take enough steps to regulate the uncontrollable rush. Temple administration sources themselves admit there was a 50 per cent increase in the pilgrims this time around.

There were not enough police personnel to control the crowd that had gathered atop the hill that caved in. An eyewitness, Anyappan Vadakkaancherry said there was only one junior police official there when the pilgrims rolled down.

Dewaswom Board public relations officer N R Premkumar admitted that the accident had taken place when the police personnel posted at the site went down to control the pilgrims who had started climbing down.

Similarly, lack of medical facilities at Pampa also led to the rise in deaths. The victims had to be taken to various hospitals at Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta as there was no fully-equipped hospital at Pampa. This, despite the fact that several devotees die every year at Sabarimala due to the absence of timely medical care. So far, the authorities have not cared to establish a hospital near the pilgrim centre, though it collects around Rs 30 billion from devotees on various counts.

Inadequate power supply added to the woes. The power from a feeder near Pallom failed when rescue operations were in full swing. As the line from Pallam passes through thick forests, supply disruptions are frequent at Sabarimala. It takes considerable time to remedy the fault whenever there are power failures.

Unfortunately, the government has so far not considered the demand to set up a 66 KV sub-station at Pampa.

Less said the better about the state of sanitary and accommodation facilities for the pilgrims. The government has been justifying its inaction on the ground that the Centre was not willing to concede the forest land for creating the infrastructure needed for the pilgrims, including parking space for the innumerable vehicles that arrive. In the absence of facilities, there is always a virtual jam in the area.

To make matters worse, there are not enough pathways for the pilgrims to reach the temple. As a result, they swarm the available routes causing stampedes occasionally. Many do not feel that there is any need for invading the forest land to create facilities for the pilgrims.

The Kerala legislative assembly committee feels that facilities could be created outside the forest. The committee had recently submitted a master plan for developing 250 acres of land easily available from the Kerala State Plantation Corporation at Nilakkal. The plan with elaborate proposals for even taking care of the future needs is gathering dust.

A V Thamarakshan, who headed the committee, has now demanded a judicial inquiry into the tragedy.

The Hindu Aikyavedi, a non-governmental organisation, had also suggested augmenting the facilities in the centre without causing harm to the forests. The proposal met with the same fate as that of the assembly committee.

The crux of all these recommendations is a scientific system to regulate the crowd and vehicles. Some also suggested restricting the number of pilgrims until adequate arrangements are made to ensure their safety.

N Krishnan Nair, a former Kerala high court special commissioner, feels the temple administration should strictly regulate the pilgrims until proper infrastructure is created. He said the pilgrims should not be allowed to camp at the hill shrine after Makara Vilakku. And a strict queue system should be followed during their return to the base camp.

Former Kerala chief secretary V Ramachandran felt the number of pilgrims should be restricted to 200,000 to 300,000. Tragedies are bound to occur when millions are allowed to visit the temple where facilities are below par.

Some feel the pilgrims coming for the Makara Vilakku should not be allowed to stay at the hill shrine for days together. Pilgrims had been camping at the hilltop, which caved in leading to the tragedy, from Wednesday onwards. Tragically there are no barricades or walls around the borders of the hill. When the number of people increased the land caved in and fell on those below.

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