Here poisonous snakes are regular intruders, besides the threatening presence of herds of wild elephants behind the centre at nights. Similarly, there is no medical facility on the parallel trekking path, ‘Swami Ayyappan Road’, which is essential as a large number of pilgrims take this route during the season.

The existing facility at Pampa needs to be converted into a general hospital with modern equipment and fully equipped ICUs and wards. It should remain functional throughout the year as thousands of devotees trek to Sabarimala during the first week of every month. Police personnel and other staff and workers are present at Pampa and Sabarimala during off-season too. A policeman on duty died for want of medical care during off-season, Dr Padmakumar pointed out.

High pollution

High level of air pollution and contamination of the Pampa river waters result in a good number of devotees contracting respiratory and gastro-enteric problems, diarrhoea and infections. So as to arrest these kind of ailments, personal and community hygiene should be maintained by the pilgrims and the authorities, he said.

The total number of patients treated by the government medical/cardiology centres including the hospital at Pampa till last weekend from November 15 stood at 1,09,905 and of them 7,405 were given cardiac care, including admission of 167 cases.

The number of deaths so far during the current season, all due to cardiac problems, stood at 28 against 33 the previous season, Dr Suresh Kumar, Medical Officer in-charge of Pampa Hospital told Business Line.

Patients with serious ailments are shifted to Pathanamthitta district hospital and the Kottayam Medical College after stabilising their condition, he said.

According to officials, the government hospitals do not have enough fully equipped ICU ambulances. The Travancore Devaswom Board, which reaps the financial benefits from the pilgrimage, should make available a couple of modern ICU ambulances at the Pampa hospital, they said.

The best medical facility available at Pampa at present is of the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre. “Ours is a full-fledged mini-hospital on the banks of the Pampa river with all modern facilities, including an ICCU and fully equipped mobile cardiac unit,” doctors at the hospital said.

It provides medical care to all kinds of patients and doctors belonging to different disciplines are available round-the-cloak at the three-storey building where the hospital is housed. Cardiac cases are given appropriate medical care and once the patient’s condition is stabilised, he is shifted to its mother hospital in Kochi. The treatment is free of cost, Coordinator of the hospital said.

As many as 10,752 patients were given treatment here as on January 3 from November 15. Of them, 135 were admitted, 48 of them with cardiac problems. Twelve patients were shifted in the mobile ICU, while four were brought dead, he said. A telemedicine facility had to be withdrawn for want of suitable space for parking the antenna-fixed vehicle.

Major reasons

Sudden exposure to hostile environment and over-exertion, lack of proper sanitation, highly polluted river etc are the major reasons for the illness of the pilgrims, the doctors said.

Making available adequate number of toilet/latrines, proper drainage systems and sewage treatment plants at Sabarimala and Pampa and other required sanitary facilities could arrest the pollution of the Pampa river and that in turn would not only save the pilgrims but also lakhs of people living downstream, Dr Padmakumar said.

“Gastroentitis, typhoid, hepatitis etc have become endemic in the Pampa river basin, mainly in the Kuttanad region, because of the high level of faecal coliform in the river water, he added.