THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government is seriously considering the request of the Travancore devaswom board (TDB) to increase the number of devotees allowed per day at Sabarimala, said devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran.
A final decision in this regard will be taken after having discussions with chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the health department, he said.
TDB president N Vasu said the board is confident that the Covid protocols and social distancing can be ensured if the number of pilgrims to the shrine is increased.
At present, only 1,000 pilgrims are allowed to trek Sabarimala a day as per the recommendation of the expert committee headed by chief secretary Vishwas Mehta. During the weekends, 2,000 devotees are permitted to have darshan. The health department had strongly objected to increasing the number of devotees.
The TDB had requested the government to increase the number of devotees to 5,000 per day since the revenue has been severely hit due to the restrictions. “We hope that the government will consider our request and take a favourable decision in the coming days,” said Vasu.
The TDB has observed that 40% of the people who have reserved with the virtual queue are cancelling the trip. Hence, at present on an average 1,600 people are giving tokens for darshan.
The TDB has informed the government that already it has incurred a loss to the tune of Rs 350 crore and if the devotees are restricted further then the board will not be able to provide the salary and pension of the employees.
After the review meeting held in Sabarimala last week, the devaswom minister had said the government would support the TDB to compensate the loss it has incurred.