Thiruvananthapuram, Sunday, October 23, 2011: Kerala has proposed formation of an inter-state council for better coordination among five south Indian states in smooth conduct of the annual pilgrimage to the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala, starting mid-November.

Announcing this at the Conference of Southern States on Sabarimala here today, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the council could meet twice a year to draw up coordinated measures for hassle-free conduct of the pilgrimage which attracts over 30 million devotees a year.

While one such meeting would be held in Kerala itself, another meeting could be hosted by any of the other four states–Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Puducherry.Senior secretaries from the states concerned attended the conference.

Karnataka offered a token amount of Rs five crore to support the measures being taken by Kerala to improve amenities for the pilgrims.Briefing reporters on the deliberations, Kerala Devaswom Minister V S Sivakumar said participants were told about the safety manual drawn up to avoid mishaps like the Pulmedu stampede tragedy in which 102 Ayyappa pilgrims were killed in January.

The safety manual would be translated into all southern languages for the benefit of pilgrims from the respective states since Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu accounted for a majority of devotees visiting the hill shrine during the prime season stretching up to mid-January.

(News agency)