A review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan decided to complete the preparations for this year’s Mandala-Makaravilakku Pilgrimage at Sabarimala by November 10. The Chief Minister said that the government is preparing extensive facilities in view of the possibility of more pilgrims arriving this year.
The Chief Minister said that police services have been set up for the Mandala and Makaravilakku period to ensure the safety of the pilgrims and provide necessary assistance. The virtual queue system will continue this time as well. Booking will be available at 12 centres. Preparations are being completed under the leadership of the district administrations of Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Kottayam to ensure the facilities of the pilgrims. Notice boards in different languages will be installed to ensure safe pilgrimage.
Due to speculation of heavy rainfall, a special hazard measurement study will be conducted for the safety of the pilgrims and special warning boards will be installed in the danger areas.
A separate control room of the forest department will be set up at Pamba and Sannidhanam. Artificial intelligence cameras will be installed to detect the presence of wild animals. Wild Watch SMS system will continue this year as well. All the works of the water authority will be completed by the end of this month. Special kiosks will be set up for clean water availability.
As many as 200 new taps will also be installed on the pilgrimage route. Special staff will be deployed and a temporary lab will be set up to ensure water quality. The Water Resources Department will make arrangements to secure the water level in Pamba. To ensure the safety of the pilgrims, special warning boards will be installed at the bathing steps and bathing areas.
Keeping in view the Sabarimala season, special services of the KSRTC from major depots will be available. 500 buses will be used for Sabarimala special service out of which 350 buses are already been prepared. 200 buses will be used for chain service and 277 buses for long distance service. 1000 buses will operate on Makaravilakku day.
A 24-hour-system of the health department will be functioning at all important places like Sannidhanam, Apachemedu, Nilimala, Pamba, Nilakkal etc. for the pilgrims. 15 emergency medical centers will be opened. The process of deploying the necessary medical team here is in the final stage. Their training will start soon.
Steps are in progress under the leadership of Public Works Department to make all the roads to Pamba passable. Work is currently in progress on 16 roads. A special team of the fire brigade will be on duty 24 hours a day during the Mandala season. The services of scuba divers will also be available. There will be joint inspection of Excise, Police and Forest in forest area and other places to strictly prevent intoxicants.