A minimum of 40 members can avail the group booking facility; plans are also afoot to conduct special services connecting various Ayyappa temples across the State
A minimum of 40 members can avail the group booking facility; plans are also afoot to conduct special services connecting various Ayyappa temples across the State
The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will set up a group booking system for pilgrims travelling to the Sabarimala temple this season.
Reviewing the arrangements made by the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) in connection with the annual pilgrimage season at Sabarimala in Pampa on Thursday, Transport Minister Antony Raju said separate buses would be arranged for groups having a minimum of 40 members. Plans are also afoot to conduct special services connecting the various Ayyappa temples across the State based on group bookings.
Special queue for senior citizens
In the upcoming season, the KSRTC will operate one bus per minute from Nilackal to Pampa to ferry the devotees. A special queue system will be rolled out for senior citizens for boarding the vehicle.
The total number of buses operating the Nilackal-Pampa chain service this year is fixed at 200. An additional fleet of 300 buses will ply from various centres of the State to Pampa. The number of total buses on Sabarimala operation will be raised to 1,000 during the Makaravilakku festival.
The Sabarimala Safe Zone project by the MVD this season will cover a distance of 400 km encompassing Idukki, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta districts. The main control room at Elavunkal and the sub-control rooms at Erumely and Kuttikanam will operate round the clock during the season and the response time in case of emergencies on the road is fixed at seven minutes.
As many as 21 special squads will be deployed at different points across the routes to conduct round-the-clock patrolling on GPS-fitted vehicles in the service of Sabarimala pilgrims. In addition, recovery vehicles and cranes will be positioned at major accident–prone areas to clear the roads in case of any blocks due to breakdown or accident.
A helpline number will be set up for pilgrims to seek emergency assistance. Arrangements have been made to repair the pilgrims’ vehicles in collaboration with 30 vehicle manufacturers in the country.
Anto Antony MP, MLAs K.U. Janeesh Kumar and Pramod Narayan and KSRTC chief Biju Prabhakar were also present.
