Vested interests blamed for stonewalling Sabarimala development scheme

The state government's stance with regard to Sabarimala development has come in for major flak, with the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) accusing the state administration of backtracking from its earlier promise of providing facilities to pilgrims by implementing an approved plan in the Periyar Tiger Reserve.

TDB authorities in Sabarimala have alleged that certain vested interests in the department of forests are trying to scuttle the development activities proposed for the hill shrine.

TDB president G Raman Nair and other office-bearers of the board told medisperons that the Travancore Devaswsom Board's initiatives were being shot down by the forest department. The TDB initiatives included implementation of a pollution control scheme as per the Pampa Action Plan.

Ecosmart India Ltd had earlier been appointed consultants to draw up a master plan for Sabarimala development. An amount to the tune of Rs 40 lakh had been allotted to the agency in this regard, the officials said. However, efforts towards a positive goal in a time-bound manner had been lacking, they alleged.

There have been allegations that the state government has turned a blind eye to the attempts by a section to derail the efforts aimed at development of the famed pilgrimage centre atop the Sabari hills.

The TDB has now added that the 'vested' interests closely associated with the forest department are the main culprits in the efforts to scuttle the development initiatives here.

Forest department officials who are trying to allegedly stall the project should be penalised, the TDB officials said. They also demanded action against the officials, who have failed to interfere in the issue when the forest department took objection to the TDB initiative to launch the work on certain projects envisaged in the Pampa Action Plan.

The TDB has also called for government intervention in this regard so that the forest land earmarked under the development proposal could be handed over to the Devaswom Board. This would help make things smooth and the development project could roll on easily, the TDB officials felt.