THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Sabarimala pilgrimage season just a few weeks away, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) is staring at a crisis. It has to find ways to dispose of a massive old stock of aravana — six lakh containers worth Rs 6 crore — kept at the Sannidhanam.
Sale of the stock, prepared during the last pilgrimage season, was halted following an order from the Kerala High Court on January 11, after reports by the Government Analyst’s Laboratory and Spices Board Laboratory said the cardamom stocked for its preparation had pesticide content above the permissible level.
The report by a national laboratory assigned by the Supreme Court, saying that the aravana was safe to eat, has failed to give the board any relief. TDB president K Ananthagopan said they will now approach the SC seeking a remedy.
“We learnt of the national laboratory’s finding only recently. We will urge the SC to take an appropriate decision on the stock,” he told TNIE. The stock cannot be sold as two months have passed since the national laboratory issued the report. The SC had assigned the lab while acting on TDB’s appeal against the ban imposed by the HC on aravana sale.
Ananthagopan said the stock was now posing several issues. “It is taking up considerable space in the storeroom. Next month, we have to start preparations for the pilgrimage season.
The old batch is occupying the space reserved for the buffer stock. Some cans are bursting, posing health risks,” he said.
Ananthagopan said the board lacked the money and technical expertise to dispose of the stock. “We have already suffered a huge loss. We will request the SC to put the onus on those responsible for the development,” he said.
No more cardamom
Aravana for the coming pilgrimage season will not have cardamom. “This will not affect the taste as only a small amount of cardamom is used in the aravana. One koottu (batch) of aravana requires 320kg of ingredients, including rice and jaggery, but only 750g of cardamom,” the TDB chief said.