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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, INDIA, July 28, 2002: The Environment Committee of the State Assembly has called for urgent steps to check the pollution hazards faced by the hill shrine of Sabarimala. Millions of Ayyappa devotees pilgrimage to this sacred place from across the country during the November-January season. In a report given to the Assembly recently, a nine-member panel said health concerns caused by pollutants and environmental stress posed a grave threat to the very sanctity of the hill shrine. “No other holy place in India is visited by such a large number of pilgrims within a short span of three months every year. Naturally, the environmental hazards faced by Sabarimala are huge,” the report noted. The excessively high cloriform count in the Pampa River due to human waste, large amounts of plastic refuse, even though the sale of plastic articles is banned, improving available medical facilities, regular checking of the hygiene of food supplied by hotels and way-side eateries and providing stalls to supply good quality food to pilgrims are some of the concerns.

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