The Hindu Business Line : Poor facilities await Sabarimala pilgrims this year too

The master plan for Sabarimala, involving an investment of about Rs 25,000 crore spread over about 45 years, was accepted by the State Government for implementation early this year. Execution of the work is, however, tardy.

G.K. Nair

Kochi, Sept. 25 Even as the beginning of next pilgrimage season is just seven weeks away, contrary to expectations no significant progress has been made so far in implementing the projects for the overall development of Sabarimala. As a result, the infrastructure facilities continue to remain inadequate for millions of devotees who will converge at Pampa and the Sannidhanam from November 16.

No notable progress has been made so far either to implement the long pending Pampa Action Plan (PAP) under the National River Conservation Programme (NRCP) or in executing the much talked about master plan prepared by the Consultants, Ecosmart, alleged Ayyappa devotees as well as NGOs involved in protecting the river Pampa from pollution and human intervention.

The Travancore Devaswom Board, which controls and administers the hill shrine, has not done anything to put in place the required infrastructure before the beginning of the pilgrimage season, Mr K. Jayakumar, Additional Chief Secretary and Sabarimala Coordinator, said.

Works under way

Only construction of the Chandranan Road from Pampa to Sannidhanam at a cost of Rs 16 crore is underway. At the same time, work on construction of 320 toilets in eight blocks at Sannidhanam and 160 of it in four blocks in Pampa under the PAP has just started, and they are not likely to be ready before the season.

However, construction of the all-important sewage treatment plant at Sannidhanam and developing the sewage system is yet to begin.

Meanwhile, construction of the aravana plant is underway. But six furnaces for it have yet to come and much more work has to be done, which the authorities claimed would be completed before the beginning of the season.

Implementation of the first phase of the Pampa Action Plan at Sabarimala Sannidhanam and Pampa, the base of the hill, is imperative as the pollution of the river takes place during the pilgrimage season when millions of pilgrims, estimated at around 50 to 60 million, trek to the hill shrine from mid-November to mid-January the next year.

River project

Realising the urgent need to put an end to the river pollution, the lifeline for millions of people living downstream in the river basin, during the pilgrimage season, the NRCP included the river Pampa in its national programme about five years ago. The NRCP had approved the project costing around Rs 320 crore to be implemented in three phases.

For implementing the first phase of the project, involving a total investment of Rs 18.45 crore, the NRCP Directorate under the Ministry of Environment and Forests had accorded administrative approval and sanctioned Rs 12.92 crore (70 per cent Central share of the total cost) in May 2003.

The first phase, as per NRCD schedule, was to be completed by the end of 2006-07. Most of the components of the first phase were to be implemented by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) as the works were to be taken up in Sabarimala and Pampa under its jurisdiction.

“But lack of co-ordination between the Government Departments and the absence of an independent implementation agency could be the reason for its non-implementation,” Mr N.K.S. Nair, General Secretary of the Pampa Parirakshana Samithi, told Business Line.

After a four-year wait, what had been implemented as part of the first phase was construction of three check dams with shutters — vented cross bars (VCBs) — across the Pampa and two other streams at an estimated cost of Rs 1 crore, he said.

But, what was urgently needed was the construction of a 3-million litre per day (MLD) sewage treatment plant at Sabarimala and 1.5 MLD treatment plant at Pampa under the PAP project so as to arrest the flow of all kinds of wastes into the river.

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