The Kerala government has moved the Supreme Court against a State High Court decision to increase the number of pilgrims per day to the Sabarimala temple to 5,000, even as a new strain of COVID-19 from the U.K. threatens to put the clock back in the battle against the pandemic.
The Sabarimala temple festival, from December 20 to January 14, is expected to draw thousands of pilgrims from across the country.
The State, represented by advocate G. Prakash, said the threat of a new virus strain and the recently concluded local body polls in Kerala posed a real and present danger during the temple season.
“There is a slight increase in the COVID-19 cases after the local body elections in the State. Moreover, there are reports that in England and other places a new strain of COVID-19 has been detected and, considering it, the Government of India stopped all flights from India and Great Britain,” the petition said.
A hike in the number of pilgrims would cause further strain on the police officers and health officials deployed at the mountain shrine.
“Entry to the temple is controlled by a virtual queue system managed by the police. Pilgrims are tested for COVID-19 before allowing them to enter the temple. An increase in the number of pilgrims will put the police and health officials under great strain and difficulty,” the State pointed out.
The government said the Kerala High Court went on to enhance the number to 5,000 on the wrong presumption that 40% pilgrims who had registered for entry would drop out. “Most of the registrants are very keen to take up the pilgrimage on the day itself as per the virtual queue system,” the State said.
The petition said the High Court ignored a high-level committee report of December 18 that had already enhanced the number of pilgrims per day to 2,000 on weekdays and 3,000 on weekends, respectively. The panel led by the Chief Secretary had made its report on the basis of a revised health advisory of the State Health and Family Welfare Department. It was formed to fix the number of pilgrims per day at the temple.
The advisory, the State said, had revealed that 51 pilgrims and 248 staff tested positive, as on December 14.
“In Pathanamthitta district, where the Sabarimala shrine is situated, key indicators state that, as on December 18, active cases per million is higher compared to the State average. Pathanamthitta is the district performing the highest number of tests per million in the State. It is reported there is an increase in test positivity rate over the weeks,” the petition said.
Transportation of the pilgrims from the KSRTC bus stand at Pampa to Sannithanam is also a problem, considering the COVID-19 protocol, which includes social distancing, the Kerala government said.
