Arrival on Wrong Booking Date Causes Crowd Management Challenges, Says Special Commissioner
Sannidhanam: Pilgrims coming to Sabarimala through the virtual queue must arrive on the same day for which they have booked, said Sannidhanam Special Police Officer (S.O.) R. Sreekumar. Arriving on a different day with the booked token creates difficulties in crowd management. Spot booking from Nilakkal is allowed based on the crowd at Sannidhanam.
Spot bookings exceeding 5,000 are permitted only after consultation between the Special Commissioner and the S.O. On average, up to 8,500 spot bookings are issued daily. On Tuesday (December 2), up to 8,800 spot bookings were given until 3 PM. Even if bookings that start at midnight exceed 5,000, additional bookings will be issued depending on the crowd at Sannidhanam.
According to the S.O., 1,590 police personnel are currently deployed at Sannidhanam alone — more than in previous years. He added that more police have been deployed to ensure a smooth darshan experience for devotees.
Even though an average of 80 people can be allowed to climb the “18 holy steps” per minute, this timing gets affected when assisting persons with disabilities, the elderly, young children, or those with higher body weight. About 2,500 people reach via Pulmedu each day. In addition to the official count of people climbing the 18 steps, many others arrive for civil darshan. Thousands of staff members and shop workers at Sannidhanam also take darshan. Devotees who arrive at night with the Irumudi return again for darshan the next morning during the Neyyabhishekam (ghee abhishekam), he said.