Thiruvalla: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has reportedly ignored multiple directives from the Chief Minister’s Office to repair the deteriorating road surrounding the Sreevallabha Temple in Thiruvalla. One of the state’s oldest temples, the shrine draws large numbers of devotees, especially during the Sabarimala pilgrimage season.

The road encircling the temple, which falls under the TDB’s ownership, has remained in a severely damaged and unmotorable state for years, with the worst stretches lying along its southern and western sides.

According to official records, the Sreevallabha Temple and its premises span 8.5 acres, including roads on all four sides and the pathway connecting the eastern gate to the temple’s decorative tower. The roads in front of the eastern entrance and along the northern side were repaired two years ago under a government project linked to the Kavumbhagom–Thukalassery Road. About seven years ago, the Public Works Department (PWD) also laid Irish concrete along parts of the temple road. However, since then, neither the PWD nor the TDB has undertaken any maintenance on the remaining stretches.

The TDB authorities claim that the road around the temple is currently public property, which has to be repaired by the government or local bodies. However, PWD officials say that the road belongs to the TDB, which is responsible for the maintenance. The dispute has led to an indefinite delay in carrying out repairs of the dilapidated road, causing untold miseries to local people and visitors.

On February 3, a complaint regarding the bad condition of the road was submitted before the Chief Minister’s office by K Govindan Namboodiri, a right-to-information activist based in Kochi.

On April 18, the petitioner received a reply from the CM's office, informing him that a directive was issued to the assistant devaswom commissioner in Thiruvalla to initiate measures to repair the temple road, starting from the tower, and install streetlamps.

But, as the TDB took no action for months, Namboodiri approached the Chief Minister’s Public Grievance Redressal Cell on July 30. Even though directives were subsequently issued from the grievance redressal cell to take the necessary action, the TDB has yet to respond.