As crowds swell to dangerously high levels, central forces to arrive at Sabarimala
As per the latest details, nearly 2 lakh devotees arrived at Sabarimala in the past 3 days. Currently, the spot booking is limited to 20,000. However, today's developments at temple premises suggest that more central forces has to be present at the temple to control the swelling crowds.
Sabarimala: The pilgrim rush at the Lord Ayyappa Temple in Sabarimala has crossed dangerous levels, Travancore Devaswom Board president K Jayakumar said on Tuesday. Many devotees were reportedly breaking queues and rushing towards the sanctum for darshan, he said while addressing the media. "Such a massive crowd should never have been allowed to build up. The situation will become unmanageable unless 80–90 devotees climb the 18 steps every minute. Central forces are expected to arrive today, and coordination with them will begin immediately,” he added.
There are also reports that several devotees returned without getting darshan, leaving only after performing the ghee offering at Pampa. Only a maximum of 90,000 pilgrims are usually allowed per day, 70,000 through the virtual queue system and 20,000 through spot bookings.
A mini passenger bus transporting Sabarimala pilgrims from Karnataka overturned at the Kanamala junction, near Erumeli, in Kottayam on Tuesday afternoon. The vehicle was en route to Sabarimala when the accident happened around 2.15 pm.
"The bus may have lost its brakes or overturned while taking a turn at the junction. Preliminary information indicates that at least 25 people were on the bus,” said Mathew Joseph, Kanamala panchayat member.
Teams from the Erumeli police station and the Fire and Rescue Services reached the spot promptly and began rescue efforts with the help of local people.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports from Sabarimala say that a woman aged 56 died while trying to move from Pamba to Sabarimala.
However, there is no confirmation on the news of the woman’s death.
"We will provide all facilities for a speedy darshan”, say TDB president Jayakumar
"We are ensuring all possible assistance to the devotees for a comfortable and speedy darshan at the temple. For the last 2 days massive crowds in the temple area has created inconvenience for devotees, however as of now situation has improved. We will ensure that there is no major hurdle for the devotees while they reach Sannidhanam”, said K Jayakumar, TDB president the media at Sannidhanam, Sabarimala.