SABARIMALA (Kerala): Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy Monday oversaw a massive cleaning operation at the foothills of the famed Hindu temple in Sabarimala.Close to 6,000 volunteers, of which 3,000 are from the Amritanandamayi Mutt and another 3,000 from various organisations, joined the drive to make the temple town spick and span.The project aims at cleaning Sabarimala, Pamba and the traditional forest path to Sabarimala and maintaining them as a zero-waste zone.Sabarimala temple is situated on the mountain ranges of the Western Ghats, at an altitude of 914 metres above sea level, four kilometres uphill from Pamba in Pathanamthitta district in central Kerala.The temple, on the top of the hill, is accessible only on foot from Pamba.It was the Sabarimala high-power committee which submitted a proposal to the government for implementing a zero-waste project.Chandy after going through the proposal sanctioned Rs.5 crore for it.Speaking to IANS, local legislator Raju Abraham said: "The 3,000 volunteers from the mutt have been at the temple top for the past four days and have been engaged in the cleaning operation. They would now be replaced by another 3,000 who have already started to work at the foothills."This massive programme is being organised ahead of the next Sabarimala temple festival beginning Nov 17.Even though the temple is open throughout the year, the peak pilgrimage season begins on the first day of the Malayalam month in November and ends in January.On the last day in the last season, a major tragedy struck the temple town when 102 lives were lost following a stampede after a commotion broke out among pilgrims.This time the government is giving finishing touches to a programme for crowd control. It includes a Rs.nine million Bailey bridge built by the Madras Engineering Group of the army on the proposed diversion road linking Sannidhanam with Chandranandan Road.A new Rs.1.31 crore footpath has also been built by the Kerala Police Housing and Construction Corporation.
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