Strict controls ease crowds at Sabarimala

SABARIMALA: The High Court’s order to tighten controls at Pampa, Nilakkal, and the traditional forest route has helped ease the rush at Sabarimala. Authorities capped spot bookings at 5,000 and restricted the number of pilgrims allowed through the forest path to the same limit. Devotees without bookings were turned back from Pampa. Security personnel from SAP and IRB also worked to speed up the movement of pilgrims climbing the 18 sacred steps. These rules will stay in effect until the 24th.

On the 18th, Sannidhanam experienced dangerously high crowd levels, prompting fresh measures. To prevent similar situations, senior officials and Devaswom Board leaders will conduct review meetings every two days. Adjustments to the current arrangements will be made based on these assessments.

More devotees allowed
Although the court set the spot booking limit at 5,000, around 8,000 people used spot booking for darshan yesterday. By the night of the 19th, 5,000 bookings for the next day had already been made. With this, spot booking at Nilakkal was stopped. Early yesterday, people who reached Nilakkal argued with officials demanding spot booking. After reviewing the situation, Special Commissioner R. Jayakrishnan allowed entry for an additional 3,000 devotees.