‘Footfall spike may harm Sabarimala ecology’
NEW DELHI: The Sabarimala temple’s decision to open its doors to women of all ages on the Supreme Court’s orders amid protests by traditionalists has worried the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). The hilltop shrine in Kerala is located inside the Periyar Tiger Reserve, which is home to 20 tigers and other wildlife, including elephants.
An estimated 100,000 devotees throng the temple on peak days of worship of the presiding deity, Lord Ayyappa, and the NTCA is concerned about the impact that a higher number of devotees will have on the ecology of the area in the Western Ghats.
“A massive number of devotees visit the temple and since it is inside a protected tiger reserve, the Sabarimala Master Plan was developed in 2007 to ensure that the ecology is not disturbed,” said Anup Kumar Nayak, member secretary, NTCA.
“A recent review, however, found that not much has been done to manage the existing number of devotees and implementing the master plan,” said Nayak.
Acting on the Supreme Court’s September 28 order, the temple on Wednesday opened its doors to women of all ages, who have been barred from the shrine because of a centuries-old tradition.
A review of the implementation of the master plan, the Kerala government and the Travancore Devaswom Board on October 9 found several flaws in the implementation. They found evidence of deforestation, construction of structures not conforming to the plan, a faulty sewage treatment plant and illegal garbage dump.
At the Nilakkal base camp for devotees, the NTCA found that trees were being cut to develop parking areas, leading to a high level of deforestation. New buildings — driver shelters, dormitories and hotels — were being constructed without conforming to specifications of the master plan.
The state government still hasn’t developed a blueprint for the area based on the master plan.
In the vicinity of the Pamba river, which is the next stop for devotees, several buildings had been constructed within a 50 metre radius of the river, noted the review. The state government too constructed a hospital in a “deviation from the plan,” according to the observations of the NTCA. The green zone in front of the hospital was also removed for parking of vehicles.
The NTCA also noted the absence of a sufficient number of bio-toilets and found that the sewage treatment plant was not working, leading to the discharge of untreated faecal waste into the Pamba river. “Black-coloured wastewater containing human waste from Pamba STP runs to Pamba river,” NTCA observed, a copy of which was accessed by Hindustan Times.
A fixed railing erected along the route from the Pamba river to the Sannidhanam (sanctum sanctorum) had been removed on the orders of the Kerala high court because the barrier prevented free movement of wildlife.
The tree cover at Sannidhanam was less than 20%, against the 50% prescribed in the masterplan. Only five trees were planted in the temple premises in 2018.
Two buildings came up in the area despite the masterplan’s recommendation to reduce the number of concrete structures.
“The congregation of a large number of people close to a Tiger reserve disturbs the prey-predator dynamics. We have seen this in Kanha too. Plus it disturbs the ground vegetation in the area. So the big cat also gets affected. It’s best to keep these areas quiet by keeping crowds away,” said Faiyaz A Khudsar, wildlife biologist. We will certainly play a decisive role in installing a nonBharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) government at the Centre. Given his stature and acceptability, our leader Naidu will hopefully stitch up a National Front-like arrangement by involving all non-bjp regional parties and the other national parties. We will have to see if the Congress will be part of that arrangement. That question is unlikely to arise (at least for now) Naidu continues to be the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. After all, Andhra Pradesh is a fledgling state which badly needs a visionary and a strong leader like him for rebuilding. His vision and innovative ideas are unparalleled. Replacing him is very difficult. No, there is no dearth of leadership in our party. Our ministers and MLAS have got a vast experience in politics. Yes, NTR founded the party to uphold the self-pride of Telugu-speaking people. When the Congress rode roughshod with Telugu sentiments, he launched a spirited fight against that party then. The situation now has changed. It is the BJP which is now hurting the sentiment of Andhra people by denying the special category status, whereas the Congress came forward empathising with the concerns of Andhra people. Obviously, the party is expected to respond accordingly. As NTR’S daughter she joined the Congress and served as a Union minister in UPA-II. Where is the opposition? YSR Congress’s Jaganmohan Reddy after is a non-entity with criminal cases against him. He has lost credibility. Both Jagan and Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan, are actually covert (partners) of Narendra Modi, who are enemies of Andhra people. It is completely left to her. If she is willing, who am I to prevent her. I can’t make decisions on her behalf. In fact, they got more representation in party during Chandrababu Naidu’s rule than during NTR’S tenure. The party ensured representation for NTR family in Rajya Sabha , Assembly and in the party’s highest decision-making body. As for Jr NTR , I never felt any threat from him. He is free to take up any work in the party.