THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:A high-level meeting on Wednesday convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has decided to appoint a senior IAS officer as special officer to Sabarimala and rope in an expert agency from outside Kerala to devise a plan for rebuilding flood-hit infrastructure.
The agency will be handpicked within five days, with the work getting under way in the next 10 days. Pinarayi said the senior officer will be decided after consulting the Cabinet He suggested that the expenses of the restoration works should be borne by the Devaswom Board, which agreed to the request.
According to the meeting, the infrastructure at Pampa suffered devastation to the tune of Rs 100 crore. The ‘nadapanthal’, toilet complex at Pampa, parking space and a part of the police station are among those destroyed in the deluge. Also, 115 km of road belonging to the PWD. the pump house and the hospital in Pampa were lost.
The meeting decided to complete the restoration works before November.It was also decided to hand over the task of constructing three Bailey bridges across the Pampa to the Army, of which two will be completed shortly.
It was decided not to allow concrete structures in Pampa. The camp points of the pilgrims will be set up at Nilakkal, Erumeli and Vandiperiyar. Private vehicles will be allowed up to Nilakkal beyond which KSRTC will ferry the pilgrims.Devaswom Board president A Padmakumar said pilgrims will be allowed from September.