THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the government will ensure smooth access for pilgrims, who do not register online and who come without knowing about this system, in Sabarimala. The chief minister pointed that this kind of darshan was ensured in the past years. The chief minister said this while responding to V Joy's submission in the assembly.

As part of the measures to facilitate smooth pilgrimage to mandala-makaravilakku Mahotsavam in Sabarimala, a detailed planning was held with the Travancore Devaswom Board, Police and District Administration under the chairmanship of the chief minister and in the presence of the devaswom minister.

In order to ensure better facilities for the devotees at Sannidhanam and Pampa, necessary steps have been taken to improve coordination between institutions and departments like Travancore Devaswom Board, police, forest, health, public works, fire & rescue, legal metrology, disaster management, public food distribution, irrigation, KSEB, KSRTC, BSNL, water authority and pollution control board.

It has been decided to arrange an ambulance system at Nilakkal and Pampa, to start 12 emergency medical centers, to start medical centers along the Karimala route in collaboration with the forest and to ensure the services of cardiologists. Steps have been taken to repair the roads, provide facilities and protection for the devotees and ensure the necessary facilities for the pilgrims arriving from other states.

The review meeting held on October 5 discussed the issue of allowing spot booking to ensure smooth visit and safety of pilgrims arriving at Sabarimala. The meeting also assessed that the darshan should be ensured in a comfortable and safe manner for the pilgrims.

It was decided in the meeting to include the information about the route chosen by the devotees for the pilgrimage in the virtual queue in order to take the necessary arrangements in advance to control the crowd, and to bring the necessary arrangements in the software to allow the devotees to choose according to their preference on less crowded days and to provide the number of pilgrims booked each day to the district administration, police and other departments in advance. The meeting also decided to provide facilities for all the pilgrims arriving at Sabarimala.

The details of pilgrims will be available as a digital record through virtual queue registration. This is helpful in ensuring safety at Sabarimala and locating people in case of accidents. The government has also ensured better pilgrimage facilities than last year.

The virtual queue system is running flawlessly at major pilgrimage centers including Tirupati. Virtual queue system has been introduced in Sabarimala since 2011 in the same model. The chief minister said that the intention is to strengthen the virtual queue in an impeccable manner.