Sabarimala Roads Rurn Treacherous

Sudden heavy rain played havoc at Sabarimala on Saturday with roads to Sabarimala turning treacherous for the pilgrims.


As there are not enough shelter homes at Sannidhanam, thousands of pilgrims were left with no choice but to be at the mercy of weather gods. Areas from Sannidhanam to Pampa received sheets of rain during the rain.


The Swamy Ayyappan road, connecting Pampa to Sannidhanam, turned out to be extremely dangerous, and many pilgrims got injured while climbing down.
The slippery road was also abandoned by the tractor drivers as they found it impossible to manoeuvre.


Later, the pilgrims left the road and took the woods-path to climb down, as they had at least trees to hold. Many pilgrims also took the lengthier Chandranan Road to reach the Sannidhanam.


“It was a journey between life and death. I and my kids slipped many times on the way down. The Devaswom Board will have to spend some money from our offerings and should resurface this road with concrete,” said Mr Santhosh Kumar, a pilgrim, after reaching Pampa.


DC had earlier reported about the pathetic condition of Swamy Ayyappan Road. The rain worsened the conditions as trees were also uprooted on the way.


Sannidhanam was under cloudy sky for the past two days. It had also witnessed drizzle on Friday. However, it rained cat and dogs from 9 am on Saturday for hours.


The overstaying Ayyappas also found it difficult to find a place to sleep in the night.


No respite from power disruption
Following power outage at Onnam Madukku on Swamy Ayyappan Road, which continued for the third consecutive day on Saturday, climbing down from Sabarimala in night has turned out to be a risky adventure.


Police said four unidentified men waylaid a porter on Friday night and robbed him. Power was disrupted when trees fell across power lines here.