COIMBATORE: A 22-year-old pilgrim died on Monday morning while climbing the sixth hill of the Velliangiri Mountains located in Coimbatore district.
The victim, A Tamilselvan, was a resident of Sholingur in Vellore district. He had arrived along with his friends to visit the Lord Shiva temple situated on the seventh hill of the Velliangiri Mountains, which is a part of the Western Ghat and the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.
The group arrived in Coimbatore city on Sunday and started to climb the hills around 5 am on Monday.
Tamilselvan collapsed and died on the spot around 8 am while climbing the sixth hill. The tragic incident highlights the lack of emergency facilities at a place witnessing heaving rush around Shivaratri, which falls on March 8 this year.
While Velliangiri Mountains opened for devotees after the February 9 Madras High Court order, thousands of tourists are expected to trek here in the coming months on a daily basis. But neither the foothill nor the chain of seven hills, locally known as the “Sapthagiri’, can cope with the rush of devotees or tourists as the areas lack basic amenities like toilets and drinking water facilities.
The Velliangiri Mountains is considered the Kailash of the South and a well-known pilgrim centre for Lord Shiva devotees, but the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department has failed to set up amenities for the benefit of devotees flocking to the hills especially before and after Shivaratri.
Currently, the foothill has only one toilet and there are no temporary or permanent toilet facilities at the hills and those who are trekking in the hills have to attend nature’s call in the open.
The hills have the most difficult and dangerous trekking route in Tamil Nadu, but it lacks medical camp, first-aid kits or healthcare personnel for screening the devotees. The primary health centre is located at Semmedu which is 2 km from Velliangiri.
An angry forest department official explaining the situation said “We engage labourers to bring the bodies of those who die while trekking to the foothills. Likewise, we are engaging volunteers to clear the plastic waste and clothes dumped by the devotees. Though the HR&CE is managing the temple, we collect plastic bottles that are discarded in the hills.
“Apart from this, our main duty is to protect the devotees from wild animals. All these will be done with our effort only and there was no cooperation from the HR&CE side,” the official claimed.
No development work was undertaken here in the last one-and-a-half years though the HR&CE minister Sekar Babu visited the temple in May 2022 to review the conditions before appointing an expert committee to study.
As the hill steps are damaged a proper pathway needs to be laid.
B Ramesh, Joint Commissioner HR&CE, told TNIE that they are holding discussions to set up a medical camp. It will be set up within the next five days
“Moreover, we will also set up additional drinking and temporary toilet facilities at the foothill using the Velliangiri temple funds owned by the department,” he said replying to a query.
He also assured to provide personnel to assist the forest department in clearing the waste and clothes that are left by the devotees and also in controlling the crowd.
Close to 10,000 people reached the hills on Friday and Saturday nights. An ambulance was stuck for more than one-and-a-half hours in the crowd after a devotee fell ill at the foothill.
Vehicles, including cars and two-wheelers, need to be stopped at the Mullangkadu check post to prevent traffic congestion in the foothills during Friday and Saturday when heavy rush of pilgrims is expected. Only government buses should be allowed for smooth conduct of pilgrimage.