Pamba: Sabarimala witnessed a major drop in the number of devotees as the pilgrimage season enters the fourth day. In the first four hours after the temple opens in the morning, the average number of devotees has dropped to 8,000 from over 10,000 in the previous year.
KSRTC has also curtailed its special services between Nilakkal and Pamba due to the shortage of passengers. Out of the 310 buses, 50 have stopped services. Only three of the 10 electric buses are conducting services now.
The temple complex and nearby areas have been witnessing protests by devotees, when it was opened for the annual pilgrimage season on Friday, against the state government's decision to implement the Supreme Court's September 28 verdict allowing women in the previously banned 10-50 age group to pray at the shrine.
Meanwhile, Senior Congress leaders led by former chief minister Oommen Chandy will visit the temple on Tuesday. BJP MPs including V Muraleedharan and Nalin Kumar Kateel will also arrive at the temple on Tuesday.
KSRTC revenues hit by police curbs in Sabarimala: MD Thachankary
The state-run transport service has suffered massive losses on its Sabarimala route as stringent restrictions imposed there have limited the arrival of pilgrims, says its managing director Tomin Thachankary.
The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) had to cancel 50 of its 310 chain services from Nilakkal to Pamba because they were not getting filled up. “The police curbs have affected the KSRTC,” said Thachankary, a senior Indian Police Service officer.
Fifty buses were pulled out, he pointed out. Nearly one lakh pilgrims who had booked tickets online faced total chaos as the police imposed travel restrictions. “Ten electronic buses were pressed into service in the Nilakkal-Pampa route,” Thachankary said. “Losses have forced us to limit them to three.”
He said KSRTC employees do not have facilities at Pampa and Nilakkal to relax or even have food. “We have wrote to the Devaswom Board seeking improved facilities.”
Minor protests
A minor protest broke out at the Sabarimala Temple late Monday night after 20 pilgrims were asked to move out of the shrine's 'Vavarunada' area, a highly sensitive zone, police said.
However, the protesters were soon pacified by the police and taken to Nadapanthal area, Superintendent of Police (special officer) Pratheesh Kumar said.
The devotees started agitating when they were asked to move out of Vavarunada due to the imposition of Section 144 that prohibits assembly of more than four people at a spot, he said.The devotees stopped their protest but complained that the newly allotted place was not clean.
Earlier in the day, 69 people, who had protested in the high security zone at the shrine Sunday night, were remanded in 14 days of judicial custody.
Activists of the BJP, Yuva Morcha and other right-wing outfits also stepped up protests across Kerala against the late-night police crackdown at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple complex and the subsequent detention of 69 people.
The Travancore Devaswom Board on Monday moved the Supreme Court seeking more time to implement its September 28 verdict that allowed women of all age groups to enter the temple, citing security issues and inadequate amenities.
The temple board, which is a statutory body under the Kerala government and runs the shrine, referred to law and order problems including "acts of hooliganism and assault" and the need to arrange for additional infrastructure such as washrooms for women pilgrims among the reasons for seeking more time.
On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench, headed by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, had paved the way for entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple, saying the ban amounted to gender discrimination.
Unprecedented restrictions were enforced for the devotees in view of the frenzied protests witnessed when the shrine opened briefly last month and early this month when at least a dozen women in the 10-50 age group were prevented from entering the shrine.
