The state government on Monday approved the appointment of 500 additional Special Police Officers for the Mandala-Makaravilakku festival at Sabarimala to strengthen crowd management following reports of heavy rush in recent days. Earlier, the Kerala High Court had directed the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to enhance crowd control after severe congestion was reported, and imposed a temporary cap of 5,000 spot bookings per day. The court has also allowed authorities to revise the limit based on the situation.

Following this, the State Police Chief informed the government that the 1,000 SPOs already sanctioned would not be sufficient to manage the expected rush during the festival season and sought 1001 more. He also pointed out that police personnel will be needed for election-related work ahead of the upcoming local body polls.

The new personnel will be deployed in Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Alappuzha and Kollam districts. They will be appointed for a maximum of 60 days on a daily wage of ₹660. According to the Home Department order, the temporary staff will be selected from retired police officers, ex-servicemen and NCC cadets, and their wages will be met from the allotted budget.

Meanwhile, pilgrim turnout continues to rise. Over 5.75 lakh devotees have visited the Sabarimala temple in the first week, with 69,295 recorded on Sunday alone.

Travancore Devaswom Board president K Jayakumar had earlier noted that the rush had reached “dangerous levels”, with many devotees reportedly breaking queues. Central forces and the National Disaster Response Force have since reached the site to assist with crowd control, he said.

Spot booking
Considering the increasing rush of devotees for darshan, the number of spot bookings for Tuesday has been fixed at 5,000. Meanwhile, 70,000 pilgrims will be able to have darshan through virtual queue booking.

CCTV surveillance
Elaborate security arrangements, including the installation of 450 CCTV cameras, have been put in place at Sabarimala. The surveillance system is a joint effort by the police and the TDB. The cameras cover major areas such as Marakkoottam, Nadappanthal, Sopanam, the flyover, Malikappuram and Pandithavalam.