To avoid the recurrence of the stampede that killed 100 people in Pulmedu in 2010, authorities have decided to introduce an innovative e-queue system in Sabarimala for devotees of Lord Ayyappa.
Under this system, devotees can make bookings online and ensure their place in a separate queue, which, authorities believe, will help avoid overcrowding and congestion.
To begin with, devotees will have to do their online booking at the Kerala police website but as the season begins, the Travancore Devaswom Board will take charge of the e-queue system.
Devotees who make the bookings will have to present identify proof to be allowed into the separate queue. To avoid inconvenience, they will also be given a time when they can join a batch of pilgrims.
ADGP P. Chandrasekharan, who has overall security at Sabarimala, told this newspaper that the system will be tried out on an experimental basis from November 1. The necessary software has been developed by the state police computer cell. The facility can be accessed at the Kerala police website.
As of now, devotees, including senior citizens and children, have to stand in queues for 12 to 14 hours to have darshan, after trekking two hillocks, Neelimala and Apachimedu. Authorities believe that the e-queue system will help avoid this to a large extent.
Millions of pilgrims, the majority of them from the South Indian states, trek to the hill shrine every year to have the darshan of Lord Ayyappa. The number of pilgrims has been going up every year, stretching the infrastructure of the area to the very limits.
The state government is planning to give wide publicity to the e-queue system if the pilot project proves to be successful.