Pilgrims advised not to pollute river Pamba

The Travancore Devaswom Board in a bid to control pollution of the holy river Pamba has banned the use of plastics and polythene on the banks of the river and on the trekking path to the Sabarimala Sannidhanam.

The Board has appealed to the pilgrims not to dump waste and throw their into the river after the pilgrimage as it would pollute the river, the lifeline of those living down stream up to Kuttanad.

As the pilgrimage has begun on Wednesday, large contingent of police personnel has been deployed at Pamba and Sabarimala to do a round the clock monitoring of the area, besides managing the crowd and regulate traffic, the Board sources told HK.

They said that no pilgrim would be allowed to the climb the 18 steps of the temple without carrying the “Irumudi”. Thousands of devotees were present at the Sannidhanam today to have the darshan of Lord Ayyappa on the first day of the Malayalam month Vrischikam, the day the 60-day penance begins.