Kerala HC allows minor changes to 5,000-pilgrim cap at Sabarimala if inflow is low

Kochi, Nov 21 (PTI) The Kerala High Court on Friday permitted officials at Sabarimala to make minor modifications to the 5,000-pilgrim cap on spot booking if the arrival of devotees is low.

The bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan and K V Jayakumar had earlier directed a cap of 5,000 pilgrims per day under spot bookings on November 19, considering the heavy rush at the temple during the current pilgrim season.

On Friday, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) submitted details of the approximate area of relevant zones in Sabarimala along with corresponding green-zone capacity.

According to the TDB report, the green capacity of Sannidhanam is 66,936 devotees and Pamba has a green capacity of 12,500 pilgrims.

Taking note of the report, the court directed that the capacity must be kept within the safe zone.

The TDB counsel submitted that following the court’s earlier order and the restrictions imposed on pilgrim inflow, crowd density has significantly reduced.

The counsel said it would be appropriate to allow the Executive Officer and the Chief Coordinator to take decisions based on the actual inflow of devotees and submit them before the Special Commissioner.

This would help make minor changes to the 5,000-pilgrim cap and allow additional devotees if the inflow is low.

"Having regard to the above submissions, we permit the Executive Officer, in coordination with the Chief Coordinator and the Special Commissioner, to make minor modifications to the cap imposed by this Court, in the event that the inflow of pilgrims is lower, provided that the concentration of pilgrims shall, at all times, remain strictly within the green-zone limits," the court ordered.

The petition will be considered again on December 3. PTI TBA TBA KH