Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that treasury control will not apply to Sabarimala preparations. He also instructed the completion of the construction works and maintenance work in coordination with the concerned departments before the onset of the pilgrimage season. The high level meeting reviewed the progress of various activities. 

Sabarimala- Nilakkal KSRTC services will continue without a conductor. Devaswom Board President Anantha Gopan informed at the meeting that 18 queue complexes will be digitalized based on the Tirupathi model. A retractable roof will be placed on the 18th step (padinettampadi). There will be a metal detector and screen in front of the hundi. An escape route will also be designed to be used in case of an emergency. 

There will be room for storage and rest at the station. There will also be 16 modern toilets. Milestones will be installed on the roads leading to Sabarimala at every kilometer interval. An automated system will be installed to measure the water level in Pamba river.

Representatives including MLAs demanded that more doctors should be appointed in the hospitals along the Sabarimala path and that ambulances equipped with cardiac care systems should be made available. There will be 250 special trains this year.

The forest department informed that there will be four rapid response teams to prevent wild animal attacks. The health department will ensure that those manning the shops have health cards. In the first phase, KSRTC will put 350 buses and 528 employees into service.