Drivers of vehicles carrying pilgrims to Sabarimala from other parts of the country this year can familiarise themselves with the route, terrain, and roads well in advance. The State government will prepare short videos for this purpose and post them on various social media platforms.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting convened by Transport Minister Antony Raju at Pampa on Friday to discuss the steps to be taken for a safe and accident-free pilgrimage season. The meeting decided to set up sign boards, reflectors, blinkers and boards with helpline numbers all along the route to the hill temple.
The Minister informed the meeting that the preparatory works of the Sabarimala Safe Zone project had been completed. The focus would be on ensuring a safe journey for lakhs of pilgrims heading to the temple from other States. He said the project had helped bring down the number of accidents in previous years by clearing traffic bottlenecks, removing vehicles that have broken down or those involved in accidents and ensuring adequate parking facilities.
KSRTC services
Mr. Raju said the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) would operate additional services to Sabarimala from various parts of the State during the Mandalapuja and Makaravilakku festivals. As many as 473 buses would be pressed into service during the first phase of the pilgrimage season up to December 5 and 513 buses during the second phase beginning December 6. Another 800 buses would operate on the route during the Makaravilakku festival.
As many as 14 special service centres would be opened at Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, Kumali, Erumely, Chengannur, Kottarakara, Pampa, Punalur, Adoor, Thrissur, Guruvayur and Kayamkulam and chartered trips would be operated from the Kottayam and Chengannur railway stations. Chain services would be operated on the Pampa-Nilackal route. The Minister said efforts were on to include ticket booking facility for the KSRTC buses on the virtual queue system for pilgrims.
Transport Commissioner S. Sreejith; Pathanamthitta District Collector A.Shibu; District Police Chief V. Ajith; KSRTC CMD in-charge Pramoj Sankar; representatives of the Travancore Devaswom Board and various departments were present.
