By IANS,
New Delhi : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari Saturday constituted a committee to visit Kerala’s Sabarimala to look at the steps taken to improve facilities for pilgrims in the wake of a stampede in January that led to the loss of 102 lives.
The committee, which will submit a report after visiting Sabarimala Nov 18, includes party’s Kerala unit president Muralidharan, party’s Karnataka unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel, Andhra Pradesh state unit treasurer Manohar Reddy and Sukumar Nambiar.
Party MP Prakash Javadekar will be convernor of the committee.
A press statement issued by the party said that pilgrims going to visit Sabarimala temple had to face a lot of inconvenience and difficulties.
“Although the state government have taken several decisions from time to time in order to improve the situation and provide protection to pilgrims, yet they have not been implemented so far,” the statement said.
Fifty devotees were injured in at Pulmedu near the Sabarimala hill-top shrine when they were there to watch the celestial Makarajyothi. Most died of severe internal injuries after being trampled over by a panicked crowd.