THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Taking into account the extensive damage at Pampa and nearby areas in the recent flood, the Police Department that oversees crowd management have requested the state government to make prior online booking mandatory for pilgrims and also sought a cap on their number during the November pilgrimage window.
The request was placed by State Police Chief Loknath Behera during a meeting convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to discuss about the re-construction of infrastructure at Pampa that was battered by flood water, sources said.
Police said the department has requested the government to limit the number of pilgrims to 80,000 per day. This can be done by making booking through Virtual Q, a software launched by the police IT cell, the government was told.
Though a formal announcement on the fate of the police proposal is expected by Friday, sources revealed the department has already started upgrading its software to meet increased traffic.“The IT wing has been asked to update the site by the first week of September to handle the heavy traffic. The devotees can check the availability of slots and can book the ones that are convenient for them,” a source said.
IG Manoj Abraham, nodal officer of Cyberdome, said the mandatory online booking and curb on the number of pilgrims will help in better crowd management.“Since the basic infrastructure at Pampa has been destroyed, there is not much the police can do in controlling the crowd but put a cap on the pilgrims’ number. We are planning to erect facility for those using Virtual Q at Nilakkal. They will be screened there and those who came without prior booking would be send back,” Manoj said.
However, those using traditional routes to reach Sannidhanam need not have to book their slot as the police peg their number at less than 4,000.“The traditional routes are less used and the number of people who use those tracks come around 4,000. That’s a negligible figure and we are not bothered about those coming via those routes,” Manoj said.