Closely on the heels of the disaster that struck Wayanad that claimed more than 400 lives and made hundreds of families without roof over their heads, Kerala is on its way to perpetuate another major mishap under the pretext of development.
Even as the Union Minister of forest Bhupender Yadav declared that the landslide and deluge that devastated Wayanad was a man made disaster because of scant regard for ecology and environment, a team of MPs and MLAs from the State called on Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and submitted a memorandum seeking the speeding up of the construction of Angamali to Sabari Railway Line which they claim would help pilgrims to the holy shrine of Sabarimala atop the Western Ghats.
Devotees of Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity of Sabarimala are aghast over the enthusiasm shown by the elected representatives of the people pushing for a separate railway line to the holy shrine. "None of these representatives belong to the Sanatana Dharma and most of them consider idol worship as a cardinal sin. There is something more than the ordinary eyes could see behind this demand for the railway line to Sabarimala," said PNS Namboodiri, a former Government official based in Ettumanoor.
He told The Pioneer that not a single MP or MLA came forward to condemn the Kerala Government action of allowing women in the age group of 10 to 50 worshipping at the shrine. "It is a centuries old custom that women in the 10 to 50 age group are not allowed in this particular shrine as Lord Ayyappa here is in the manifestation of eternal bachelor," said Namboodiri.
Scholars like Namboodiri and T K Subramanina Namboodiri are unanimous in their apprehension that there is a conspiracy against the temple dating back to many centuries. "They want to elevate the pilgrimage center to a shopping complex and business district," said Subramanian Namboodiri.
"All super fast trains including Vande Bharat Expresses plying in Kerala travel slowly because of outdated signal and tracks and it would take years for the Railways to bring on par with the rest of the nation. The Kerala Government should give top priority to this process," said a top official of the Railways based in Kerala. Alok Kumar Verma, former chief engineer of Indian Railways concurred with this observation and said focus should be on improving spped and efficiency.
