Spot bookings reduced to 5000 till Monday; Court raps Devaswom over shambolic arrangement in Sabarimala

KOCHI: The High Court reduced the spot booking quota to 5,000 till Monday in view of the uncontrollable rush of devotees in Sabarimala. Earlier, spot booking was open for 20,000. The interim order of the Devaswom bench comprising Justice V. Raja Vijayaraghavan and Justice K.V. Jayakumar was issued on a suo motu petition filed in the report submitted by the Special Commissioner regarding the rush at Sabarimala.

The court blamed the lack of coordination. The virtual queue booking quota will remain at 70,000 for the time being. This is considering the fact that the bookings for the next few days are completed. Only those who come with a ticket for the day on which the virtual queue was booked will be allowed to pass through Pamba. They can be allowed to pass through Pamba from six hours before the time mentioned on the ticket. Devotees arriving 18 hours from the time mentioned on the token will be denied entry.

• 80 people should climb the 18th step in a minute.
• Some devotees scorn the idea of police hauling them up at the holy 18 steps. Efficient action is needed to curb this.
• Swift action is expected from the forest department to control the pilgrims choosing the forest path to enter the temple. The petition will be considered again on Friday. The High Court said that a scientific approach is needed to control the crowd.
• The area from Nilakkal to Sannidhanam should be divided into zones, and the area and capacity to accommodate people should be assessed. Then the responsible departments should collectively come up with a solution. The Travancore Devaswom Board should immediately inform the court about the details.

The court verbally criticised the authorities for boasting about efficient measures but doing zilch in reality. The court said the visuals from the temple forecasted another disaster.

"Coordination is lacking. Preparations should have started six months ago. The place even lacks clean toilets. It wouldn't be a surprise if devotees chose the forest surrounding the pilgrimage spot to answer nature's call," said the court.