Police want to limit pilgrims at Sabarimala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Top police officials met on Saturday to chalk out a strategy to tackle the heavy rush of pilgrims at Sabarimala this year in the wake of Friday's landmark Supreme Court verdict permitting all women entry into the temple.

The police are proposing that the number of devotees be limited to 80,000-1 lakh a day and mulling separate queues for men and women.

"If men and women are allowed to climb the 'pathinettam padi' separately every 15 minutes, police officials standing on the steps will also have to be changed. This is a big challenge," a top official said.

Police are also planning to ramp up surveillance systems at Sabarimala to ensure safety of women devotees.

After SC order, it’s race against time

The Supreme Court verdict allowing women of all ages to visit the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala has triggered a flurry of activities here on Saturday.

With the pilgrimage season set to begin on November 17, the authorities have an uphill task to set up facilities for women pilgrims.

Police have mooted restricting the number of pilgrims to the hill shrine even as other departments are looking at setting-up women-friendly facilities. Chief secretary Tom Jose is likely to convene a high-level meeting next week to discuss modification that are to be made to the Sabarimala master plan.

The police top brass held a meeting here on Saturday to devise strategies to control the crowd. A point strongly suggested was to restrict the number of devotees to Sabarimala to 80,000 to one lakh a day, using the police’s digital queue system. It was also suggested that a limited number of onthe-spot tickets, too could be issued.

The suggestion to restrict devotees was made in the wake of the Supreme Court order and on the destruction to infrastructure caused by the recent floods.

Various problems that might arise and possible solutions, too, were discussed, police sources said.

Restricting visitors alone would not solve the problem, it was pointed out in the meeting. Creating separate queues for men and women would be a larger problem.

“The police officers on duty at Pathinettaampadi (the 18 steps leading to the temple) would change duty every 15 minutes as they have to pull people up to make the queue move faster. When women devotees come as a separate line, women officers will have to do the job, which is physically demanding. If the queues of men and women are given alternate windows to climb the steps every 15 minutes, officers on the steps, too, will have to be changed accordingly,” a senior officer said.

Additionally, whether women visiting the temple with men would be willing to wait in a separate queue, too, was discussed. It has been common for people getting separated from their group and finding themselves lost in the crowded Sannidhanam. Additional surveillance facilities, too, would be needed to ensure the safety of women.

Incidentally, senior government officials had on September 23 held a meeting with the high court-appointed high-power committee regarding the reconstruction of Sabarimala, affected by the floods. The meeting had also discussed the possibility of Supreme Court allowing women to the hill shrine.