Chain bus services connecting parking lots to ease congestion at Nilackal

Three buses will be deployed to operate this service connecting all 19 parking lots at the Nilackal base camp

To ease vehicle congestion and reduce crowding within the Sabarimala pilgrimage zone, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will operate a chain bus service connecting all 19 parking lots at the Nilackal base camp.

According to officials, three buses will be deployed to operate this service. Starting and ending at the Nilackal bus stand, each bus will complete the round trip in about an hour, with services running at 20-minute intervals along the route mapped out by the Road Transport Office (Enforcement).

“These services, covering a distance of around 7 km in each stretch, will streamline the movement of pilgrims to and fro the temple and help avoid the unnecessary parking of vehicles and crowding along the road. This, coupled with the opening of additional parking spaces at Nilackal is expected to ease the congestion and traffic grid locks to a great extent,” pointed out an official.

The decision to run the chain service follows a direction by the Sabarimala Special Commissioner R. Jayakrishnan, who had inspected Nilackal a few days ago. The 19 parking lots in Nilackal is spread across a vast area of around 240 acres with the farthest parking located some 5 km off the bus station here.

Three guards

Meanwhile, the Travancore Devaswom Board will assign three guards, besides a police officer to each parking lot. The opening of more parking spaces at Nilackal, coupled with a recent High Court ruling allowing smaller vehicles to park at the Pampa grounds, is expected to further ease the base camp’s heavy traffic.

With its parking lots overflowing with vehicles, Nilackal experienced the biggest traffic snarls in its history in the previous pilgrimage season and the ripple effects of these snarls were visible all across the region with serpentine queues extending over several kilometres all across the roads here. Not only had this unprecedented rush forced pilgrims to spend hours inside their vehicles, but it also disrupted normal life in the region for days on end.

Published - November 14, 2024 07:28 pm IST