Sabarimala: Kerala High Court passes orders for crowd control; regulates entry through Pamba

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday issued a slew of directions for crowd management at Sabarimala temple during the ongoing Mandala Makaravilakku festival. .A bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and G Girish had initiated the matter suo motu based on reports from the Sabarimala Special Commissioner regarding crowd management at the temple and other spots in the pilgrimage path during the ongoing Mandala Makaravilakku festival.Pertinent among the directions issued today is an order to the Chief Police Co-ordinator to ensure that entry from Pamba is restricted to those with virtual queue or spot booking. "The chief police coordinator shall take necessary steps to ensure that entry from Pamba is restricted to virtual queue and spot booking. Necessary advisory shall also be issued which shall be given wide publicity through print and visual media," the interim order stated. The Court also directed the Travancore Devaswom Board to cap the number of spot bookings allowed on days when the maximum limit of bookings through virtual queue is reached. "Having considered the submissions made at the bar regarding the issues in crowd management on the previous days, we deem it appropriate to direct the Travancore Devaswom Board to cap the spot booking to 10,000 per day on those days when virtual queue booking has reached the maximum cap of 80,000," the Court said..At the outset of the hearing today, Justice Narendran remarked that the situation at the temple this festival season is not what was expected at a place like Sabarimala. The judge also recounted what he saw in a recent video from the temple to drive home the importance of caring for the pilgrims."Yesterday we saw a video of a lady around 80 yrs old; she had come with another lady. She was waiting outside the queue due to the crowd. Then a police person saw her and took her to the sanctum sanctorum...When pilgrims are accommodated at queue complex or pilgrims complex, they should be comfortable. Then people will not have complaints about long waiting times in the queue...that 80 year old lady, when she was asked if she was scared, said that lord Ayyappan will take care of her. When people like that are at the temple to take darshan, they must be taken care of," he said. .During the last hearing on Tuesday, the bench had directed the Chief Police Co-ordinator at Sannidhanam to regulate the movement of pilgrims through Pathinettampadi (18 holy steps) to ensure their safety as well as to facilitate the maximum possible pilgrims to have darshan. It had also ordered that there be special queues for women, children, and persons with disabilities. Other directions had been issued regarding maintenance of cleanliness, deployment of additional employees and volunteers, provision of refreshments, etc. .Today, the Court was informed about the number of police personnel posted in different shifts. It was also told that 6 mobile squads have been deployed that patrol each sector at regular intervals.The Court directed State police chief to keep constant vigil over the crowd management activities and to increase the number of mobile squads from 6 to 12."In case pilgrims are stranded in those sectors for a considerably long period, the concerned special officer shall coordinate the activities regarding pilgrim support," the Court added. The Court went on to order that restrictions imposed on movement of pilgrims in certain areas shall be brought to the notice of stranded pilgrims through public announcements at regular intervals. .The matter will be taken up again on Thursday..[Read our live coverage of the hearing]