Heavy pilgrim inflow to Sabarimala through forest tracts
Radhakrishnan Kuttoor
A group of Sabarimala-bound pilgrims move through the Karimala forests on Wednesday. Photo: Leju Kamal
Pilgrims waiting to ascend the holy 18-steps (Pathinettampady) in the early morning hours of Thursday. Photo: Leju KamalUnlike the previous pilgrim seasons, Sabarimala has been witnessing a consistent increase in the inflow of pilgrims ever since the beginning of the Makaravilakku festival season.
The holy hillock witnessed a near-stampede situation more than once when the temple was opened for the Makaravilakku festival on December 30 afternoon, after a gap of three days following the 41-day Mandalam festival.
The Rapid Action Force attached to the Central Reserve Police Force swung into action to manage the mammoth crowd when the comparatively inexperienced State police was landed in a tight spot in controlling the crowd.
Absence of proper planning, coupled with lack of co-ordination among the police force deployed at Pampa, Sannidhanam and Nilackal, had made the pilgrimage a miserable experience to many a pilgrim.
A majority of the pilgrims coming from the neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, after observing strict penance had to wait for hours together in the thickly packed barricades along the zig zag path leading to the Sannidhanam. The arrangements for supplying drinking water and biscuits to the pilgrims inside the barricades too went haywire.
Karimaka, Pullumedu paths
The plight of pilgrims coming through the Karimala and Pullumedu paths to the Sabarimala Sannidhanam was even more worse as they have to silently bear with the fleecing at the eateries run by the Eco Development Committees attached to the Forest Department.
The Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sanghom is the lone non-governmental organisation that has been permitted to run pilgrim amenity camp on the interior forests of Karimala and it has been doing a yeoman service there for several years. The Sanghom has been running camps at Azhutha, Karimala and Valiyanavattom, supplying free food and drinking water to the pilgrims since the past five decades. These camps have been a great solace to the weary pilgrims.
However A group of anti-social elements allegedly owing allegiance to certain EDC groups had drained out the main water storage tank of the Sanghom at Karimala a few weeks ago, reportedly when the free food service began to badly affect their hotel business there. Ironically, neither the Forest department nor the district administration have made any inquiry into the inhuman act and took steps to supply water to the pilgrims visiting the ABASS camp there, so far.
Plight on Pullumedu route
Unfortunately, the authorities have failed to provide any basic facility to the scores of pilgrims coming through the Pullumedu route. It is also a fact that the pilgrim inflow to Sabarimala through Pullumedu route has been on the rise day by day.
Though the ABASS has been running a pilgrim amenity camp supplying free food and medicated drinking water at Uppupara on the Pullumedu route since the past several years, the Forest department is yet to give clearance for the same this year, leaving the hapless pilgrims at the receiving end.
If the consistently increasing inflow of pilgrims through the Pullumedu route is of any indication, this forest tract is most likely to witness an unprecedented crowd of devotees for worshipping the Makarajyoti on the Makaravilakku day on January 14. This spurt in the pilgrim inflow is in spite of the ban on vehicle entry beyond Kozhikkanam in the backdrop of the stampede tragedy of 2011 that had claimed 52 innocent lives.
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