SABARIMALA: Pilgrims were stranded after officials stopped permitting vehicles into Sabarimala on Monday, resulting in many getting stranded in the middle of the jungle. Since yesterday morning, vehicles have been blocked from Elavunkal to Thulapally and Plapally on the Pathanamthitta route. The move was to curb the unprecedented rush to the holy shrine.

The pilgrims who were stranded had to encounter one tough day, sitting idle inside their vehicles under the scorching heat. There were no shops on the premises making the devotees beg for drinking water. After waiting for hours, a certain number of vehicles were allowed to pass from Elavunkal to Nilakkal. KSRTC also did not provide adequate travel facilities for pilgrims reaching the Nilakkal base camp.

Amidst this, a ruckus ensued after pilgrims thronged to catch the KSRTC bus heading to Pamba, resulting in many falling on the road and getting injured. KSRTC showed desultory work and allowed just one bus in 10 minutes to ferry almost 1000 pilgrims at a time. After strong protests, two buses were allowed in 10 minutes.

Alleging disregard from the state government towards the Ayyappa devotees, the Yuva Morcha Pathanamthitta District Committee led a march towards Nilakkal Devaswom Board headquarters which ended up in a commotion.