Kerala High Court Halts Construction of Proposed ‘Bhasmakkulam’ at Sabarimala
Kochi: The Kerala High Court has directed the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to halt construction of the proposed ‘Bhasmakkulam’ pond at Sabarimala Sannidhanam until further orders.
The division bench comprising Justice V. Raja Vijayaraghavan and Justice K.V. Jayakumar issued the order in a suo motu proceeding, acting on the monthly report submitted by the Sabarimala Special Commissioner. The court noted that no geotechnical investigation or soil bearing capacity assessment had been carried out prior to the commencement of the project.
As per the submissions, the planned pond is designed to measure approximately 21 metres in length and 15.66 metres in width, with a maximum water level of 4 feet and a depth of 7 feet. The assistant engineer of Section 1, Sabarimala Devaswom Project, informed the court that the steel specifications were adopted from a recently constructed water tank of larger dimensions, but no dedicated structural drawings had been prepared for the pond.
The bench criticised this approach, emphasising that any construction at Sannidhanam — located adjacent to the temple — demands thorough geotechnical studies and soil assessments to ensure structural safety and stability before the start of work.