Kochi, Friday 06 Aug 2010: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Thursday directed the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to invite tenders for installing closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) at Sabarimala.

The Bench of Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair and Justice C.S. Gopinathan issued the directive on a petition filed by the TDB secretary. The secretary said the installation of CCTVs was estimated to cost Rs.5.70 lakh.

The court directed the Director-General of Police to depute a senior police officer to advise the TDB on the locations where CCTVs were to be installed.

The installation of CCTVs would enable the police to monitor security in and around the temple and ensure proper management of pilgrims. It would also help the TDB to ensure that its employees attended to their works in a responsible way. The court said it was important to have sufficient number of CCTVs installed in front of the sanctum sanctorum to ensure proper darsan for pilgrims.