Today, On 19th November, The Kerala High Court criticised the poor crowd control at Sabarimala, noting that the situation went out of control due to a complete lack of proper coordination among officials. The court demanded immediate corrective measures from the administration.
Kochi: The Kerala High Court expressed strong disapproval of the authorities on Wednesday following the chaos that ensued due to an unusually large crowd at the Sabarimala temple area.
The court attributed the disorder primarily to a lack of proper coordination among the officials and criticized the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) for not making necessary preparations, questioning why prior directives had not been adhered to.
Judges pointed out that many essential tasks should have been finalized six months in advance.
They raised concerns about why so many people were permitted into the temple area simultaneously and suggested that dividing pilgrims into separate sectors could improve crowd management, instead of pushing everyone forward together, which they deemed unsafe.
Reflecting on the court’s concerns, newly appointed TDB chairman K. Jayakumar acknowledged that the necessary preparations should have indeed been made six months ago.
Within 48 hours of the temple opening on November 17, nearly 200,000 devotees descended upon the Sabarimala Ayyappa shrine, overwhelming the TDB and police as they attempted to manage the large crowd, which included many children.
Television footage captured pilgrims tightly packed near the 18 steps and along the route from Pamba to Sannidhanam, with significant delays, crying children, and some devotees even scaling barricades.
Additionally, there were reports of pilgrims who had waited in line for hours without access to drinking water.
Earlier, The Kerala High Court conducted an in-camera hearing regarding the alleged loss of gold from the gold-plated copper plates that cover the ‘Dwarapalaka idols’ (door guardians) at the Sabarimala temple.