KOCHI: In the wake of Sabarimala devotees getting stuck on the road for hours, the High Court held a special sitting on the holiday today. The sitting was conducted today by the Devaswom bench of the court. The government informed the court that the devotees were stopped at about five places due to the crowd at Sabarimala. The court directed to provide immediate food, water and other facilities to the restrained devotees. The devotees had earlier shared their complaint with the media that there is no such thing at present.

The court also stated that the state police chief should directly intervene in these matters if necessary. The court said that there should be strict control in the matter of letting those who arrive without any booking along with this. The police stopped the devotees at various stations including Kottayam, Pala, Vaikom and Ponkunnam. As the darshan was not possible for several hours, the Ayyappa devotees took measures including blocking the road. There was a traffic jam of about eight kilometres at various places. The police tried to pacify the protesting devotees. Water is also being delivered to them in some places. The court held a special sitting today even though it was a holiday because complaints were raised that there was no basic facility in Ponkunnam.