Kerala High Court Directs TDB to Ensure Basic Facilities for Sabarimala Pilgrims at All Transit Centres
KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has said that the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) is responsible for ensuring adequate facilities at all major transit centres used by Sabarimala pilgrims, including the Ayyappa temple at Erumeli.
The court also directed the authorities concerned to take necessary steps to provide basic facilities for pilgrims.
The observations were made while considering a petition filed by Manoj S. Nair, State Secretary of the Ayyappa Seva Samajam, regarding the right to collect a ₹10 fee from pilgrims for applying bhasma, sindoor and sandalwood paste at Sabarimala.
The petition was heard by a Division Bench comprising Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan and Justice K.V. Jayakumar. Advocate V. Sajith Kumar appeared for the petitioners.
The High Court noted that the rules require parking centres where fees are collected to provide basic facilities in addition to parking space. These include safe drinking water and toilets. The court also said that parking centres charging higher fees should provide additional facilities accordingly.
The order further mentions several facilities to be provided at parking centres, including CCTV surveillance, radio-frequency tags, automated boom barriers, digital pass codes and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras for vehicle entry.
The authorities have also been directed to provide Level 2 or Level 3 DC fast-charging points for electric vehicles. Digital boards showing vacant parking spaces in real time and separate lighting at each parking area should also be provided.
The order further calls for covered carports or basement parking facilities to protect vehicles from heavy rain and strong sunlight.
The High Court disposed of the petition while directing the authorities concerned to strictly implement the revised parking fee rates under Rule 9 of the 1995 regulations and the other facilities specified in the rules.