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Ernakulam: Kerala High court slammed Devaswom board and the police for lack of proper crowd management at the Sabarimala hill shrine.
The high court’s observation comes after nearly two lakh devotees reached the Sabarimala Ayyappa shrine within 48 hours of the temple opening on November 17, overwhelming the TDB and police as they struggled to manage the massive crowd, including many children on Tuesday.
The court said the situation got out of control mainly because there was no proper coordination among the officials. It also blamed the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) for failing to make the required preparations, asking why earlier instructions had not been followed.
The court noted that the TDB itself had admitted that even after spot booking, more than 10,000 people climbed the hill, intensifying crowding inside and around the sanctum.
Questioning the rationale behind admitting more devotees than the temple can safely handle, the Bench asked, “What is the point of pushing devotees in and out? Should we insist on 80 people entering in a minute?” It stressed that no untoward incidents should occur due to mismanagement.
The High Court has sought detailed explanations from both the government and the TDB and directed them to file their replies by Friday.
Opposition parties slammed the state government over the failure for the poor crowd management and stated that there was no preparations done by the various departments.
Meanwhile there are reports of devotees arriving Pamba and later returning back to their home towns after they could not make up to the hill shrine.
Today a group of 5 Ayyappa devotees from Odisha returned after they could not enter the queue following shortage of drinking water.
