Thiruvananthapuram: The Travancore Devaswom Board will soon take necessary steps to take over the virtual queue implemented by the police in Sabarimala following the High Court verdict. With the exchange of control from the police to the board, arrangements will be made at the board’s headquarters to facilitate the same. 

The free of cost technical support is being provided by Tata Consultancy. The board will now handle the virtual queue system with the help of police. The virtual queue was implemented by ADGP P Chandrashekharan who was in charge of security at Sabarimala from 2010 to 2011. It was not made mandatory for all pilgrims. Until the onset of Covid, only the ones who were interested had to book using the virtual queue. 

It was due to the Covid pandemic situation that virtual queue booking was made mandatory for all pilgrims. Although there were many hiccups faced by the pilgrims, the board had not objected to the virtual queue system considering various security reasons. 

P Chandrashekharan said that the board will not have to face any inconvenience in managing the virtual queue to control the crowd. He said that the concerned officers must be trained properly and that it is advisable to continue the online booking system. 

President of the Devaswom Board, K Ananthagopan, said that the decision regarding carrying out the court order will be taken after holding discussions with the government. The time allowed by High Court is three months. He informed that the necessary arrangements will be made by then.