Published 00:21 IST, September 29th 2018
Repair, rehabilitation and renovation works are on war footing at Sabarimala's base camp Pamba after the flood hit
Every pilgrim will take a dip in Pampa river and will start their padayatra from there which is the base camp of Sabarimala
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The state of Kerala faced a massive rain and flood fury last month in all the 14 districts. The places on the eastern part of Kerala, especially the western Ghats faced the fury of all three rain, extreme floods and landslides.
One of the most famous pilgrimage center of south India, Sabarimala is located amidst deep jungle of Periyar tiger reserve forest, surrounded by the seasonal Pamba river, which is considered to be sacred one for Sabarimala pilgrims. Every pilgrim will take a dip in Pampa river and will start their padayatra from there which is the base camp of Sabarimala.
But the heavy rains and floods have created the massive catastrophe to pampa base camp of Sabarimala by damaging all the building structures. The height of Pamba river during normal time remains less than 3-4 feet and the heights reached upto 30 feet tall with full velocity, thus damaging the building structures with its wood and rock debris.
Buildings including pooja ration store, shopping complex, Police station, medical department building, pilgrims resting centers, Devaswom office buildings were damaged by floods, causing the loss over 100 crore rupees. The pictures can show the real impact of the floods.
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As soon as one reaches the Pampa base now, they can see atleast 500 construction workers, trying to repair and restore the damages occurred during the flood since it should be opened for the pilgrims from 18th of October according to Malayalam calendar. Pampa is very important since it is the base for anyone to reach the Sabarimala.
Hence the workers are trying to complete the work soon so that it can be ready for the season next month. A contractor named Raju said that "only 40% work is completed and the frequent rains are also obstructing the repair works".
The board doesn't want to delay the repair, renovation work since pilgrims will suffer if it's not on time, Sabarimala is the second famous pilgrimage center in south India after Tirupathi which have atleast 5 crore visitors in a year during the season.
After the massive devastation last month, the Pampa river is back to its normal pace.
23:48 IST, September 28th 2018