The Hindu Business Line : TDB to float tender for Sabarimala ropeway soon

THE Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which administers and controls around 2,000 temples in Kerala, will soon float tender for constructing a ropeway linking Sabarimala Sannidhanam with Pampa.

Mr T. Raman Nair, President, TDB, told Business Line that four companies, including an Australian firm, had come forward to take up the project for which preliminary survey would be taken up soon. The total cost of the 3.5-km ropeway, according to preliminary estimates, would be around Rs 80 crore, he said. Once the survey is completed, pre-qualification bids would be called for short-listing the agencies. The Board is planning to complete all the formalities soon and award the work in order to complete the project before the 2006-07 season, he said. The main objective of setting up the ropeway is to avoid the deployment of donkeys for carrying goods/materials to the Sannidhanam. Besides helping to shift sick pilgrims to Pampa, it would also help those who are unable to trek the hill to reach the Sannidhanam.

Meanwhile, work on the construction of 400 toilets, water tanks and parking lots at Nilakkal has already started. Terraced parking areas earmarked for vehicles coming from different states are being developed for the convenience of pilgrims, he said. Senile rubber trees in 30 acres of land are being slaughtered for the purpose.

A pilgrim shelter, which could accommodate 1,000 devotees at a time, is also under construction near the Palliyarakavu Devi Temple at Nilakkal, he said. All these facilities would be ready before the commencement of the pilgrimage season on November 16, he said.

Besides, the Board would construct a check dam across a wild stream in the area, he said. The existing four ponds would also be developed to meet the water requirement during the season. At present, only one pond is used. When these water resources are properly developed, there would not be any shortage of water during the season, he claimed.

He said that the proposed `queue complex' at Marakoottam, on the trekking path from Pampa to Sabarimala, to regulate the movement of devotees to the Sannidhanam, with a capacity to accommodate 50,000 pilgrims at a time, would be taken up after the coming season. It would be in compartments where adequate healthcare facilities, including cardiology units having eight beds, oxygen parlours, first-aid centres, facilities for drinking water and snacks, toilets etc, would be available. Development of this area would be done in such a way that it would not disturb the serenity of forests. Similar facilities would be created on the route to Sabarimala via Uppupara depending on the number of devotees arriving through this trekking path, he said.

He said that a new information centre and media complex would be built for the convenience of media persons by constructing more rooms.

A new "Appam and Aravana complex" would also be constructed at Pandi Thavalam on the trekking path via Vandiperiyar at a cost of about Rs 6 crore, he said.

In the second phase of development at Nilakkal, permanent pilgrim shelters and a hospital would be constructed, Mr Nair said. Besides, the plan includes Yoga and Meditation centre, Vedic and Tantric school etc.

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