KOCHI: The police have asked the High Court to restrict vehicles in nearby places like Erumely, Pathanamthitta and Kottayam to decongest Sannidhanam if the flow of pilgrims to Sabarimala becomes excessive.

While the Devaswom Board informed the Devaswom bench that it has extended the darshan time by one hour, government counsel informed the bench that the number of daily online bookings through Virtual Queue has been fixed at 90,000.

According to the Special Commissioner's report, there are now only 15 Ashtabhishekam offerings per day. According to the High Court, there will be more room for a new line when individuals offering Ashtabhishekam are brought in front of the Sreekovil in a line. Pathanamthitta District Collector will give a statement today clarifying the decisions of the joint meeting held yesterday to control the crowd at Sabarimala. The plea will be heard again today.

The Devaswom Board explained that adequate staff has been deployed in the parking grounds in Nilakkal after issuing a show cause notice to the contractor of the parking grounds. The details of this should be communicated to the court today.