A high-level consultative meeting was held yesterday at Pamba and Nilakkal under the leadership of Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan to review the preparatory work for the Mandala-Makaravilakku season rituals at Sabarimala. Devaswom Minister K. Muraleedharan, Culture Minister P.C. Vishnunath, Travancore Devaswom Board Chairman K. Jayakumar, Member of Parliament Anto Antony, and senior officials took part in it. Earlier, the inspection team visited the Nilakkal accommodation facility, the KSRTC bus station, and the police camps, and then went to the Pamba area for an inspection. There, the Chief Minister, who inspected the toilet complex at Pamba, expressed dissatisfaction on seeing the unsanitary conditions there and covered his nose. He issued strict instructions to the officials that basic facilities should be provided cleanly and properly, without causing any inconvenience to devotees. With large numbers of devotees already arriving for the Aippasi month rituals, there is a possibility that lakhs of devotees will gather daily within another month. However, completing the road repair works within a month and controlling crowd congestion at Nilakkal and Pamba remain major challenges. In particular, the delay in the tender procedures for procuring raw materials to prepare Sabarimala’s prasadam, Aravana, and the delay in preparing adequate advance stock of Aravana were also discussed in detail at the meeting.

After the review, Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan told reporters, "All necessary steps will be taken to transform Sabarimala into the country’s foremost sacred pilgrimage destination. Once this Mandala-Makaravilakku season concludes, world-class modern facilities will be provided for devotees at Sabarimala under the 'Tirupati model' scheme. Proper control systems will be put in place to prevent waste problems caused by discarding clothes at Pamba. All facilities at the transit shelters where devotees stay will be enhanced. To reduce congestion at Pamba, a massive German-technology canopy will be set up at Nilakkal to manage 6,000 devotees at a time."

22 emergency medical units will be kept ready. Waste management work will be fully implemented within the specified deadline. For the convenience of pilgrims, 461 buses will be operated by KSRTC. Routes will be coordinated to connect other major temples with Sabarimala. To ensure road safety, the Motor Vehicles Department will carry out intensive inspections. The Chalakayam road is being upgraded by the Public Works Department at a cost of Rs. 15 crore; the work will be completed very soon," he said.
