Kochi

The Kerala High Court has directed the TDB to accord the highest priority to measures that have a direct bearing on the safety, convenience, crowd management, sanitation, and overall welfare of devotees during the annual Mandalakala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season.

A bench of justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K V Jayakumar issued the direction after reviewing the steps taken by the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) for effective and smooth crowd management during the pilgrimage season.

The Board said that it has approved the Sabarimala Disaster Mitigation and Preparedness Manual prepared by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority and the same can be followed during the festival season.

It also told the court that a decision has been taken to revise the existing 'Police Bandobast Plan' and modernise the crowd management system.

For this, a meeting was held with experts in Artifiicial Intelligence (AI) and a decision has been taken to implement an integrated, comprehensive, coordinated AI enabled 'Pilgrim Flow Management Protocol', the Board told the court.

"The District Police Chief as well as the Chief Police Coordinator have submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for implementing the new AI-enabled crowd control plan. As and when the same is finalised and implemented, the Police Bandobast Plan will undergo drastic revision," the TDB said.

The Board said that the DPR envisages an AI-powered Integrated Pilgrim Safety, Security, Monitoring and Regulation Platform for Sabarimala.

The platform is designed to transform the current reactive crowd management model into a predictive, intelligence-driven, and technology-enabled operating framework, it said.

For this it will make use of AI video analytics, crowd density monitoring, people counting, smart parking, Automatic Number Plate Recognition-based vehicle analytics, drone surveillance, Geographic Information System visualisation and predictive crowd intelligence, the Board said.

Along with this, an integrated command and control centre would also be put in place, it added.

It further told the court that the subsequent step would be to operationalise a major inter-departmental control room at Pamba, from where, based on the real-time inputs received from Nilakkal, Trek Route, Marakottam, Valiyanadapandal and Sannidhanam, decisions will be taken regarding regulating movement of pilgrims to the shrine.

The aim of the initiatives is to establish Sabarimala as an intelligent pilgrimage ecosystem which ensures safety of devotees, enhances their security and improves operations, the TDB said.

It said that the first phase of the project, which includes Pamba and Sannidhanam control centers, manpower and an annual maintenance contract for three years, would cost around Rs 17.67 crore.

The Board said that it has approved the DPR in principle and has decided to implement the first phase this year itself after working out the cost implications.

Besides these, the Board said it has also decided to implement the court's directions to set up a modern waste management protocol at Sabarimala for which discussions have been held with Suchitwa Mission and Clean Kerala Company to remove further garbage/scrap and e-waste from around the temple.

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Appreciating the steps taken by the TDB, the bench directed it to ensure that the proposed initiatives are implemented before the commencement of the pilgrimage season on November 15.

The directions came on a petition initiated by the court on its own for ensuring coordinated advance planning across all stakeholders so that devotees can experience a safe and smooth pilgrimage.