Traffic gridlock on Sabarimala route sparks protest as pilgrims are stranded for hours

Vehicles queued up along the Nilackal-Pampa road amid heavy pilgrim rush to Sabarimala on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

A prolonged wait for buses at Pampa on Sunday triggered a major protest by Sabarimala pilgrims, who blocked the road over failure to arrange adequate transport to ferry them back after darshan. The protest came amid severe traffic congestion along the Nilackal-Pampa stretch, leaving thousands of devotees, including children and elderly women, stranded for hours.

The rush kept the police and Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) officials on their toes, with pilgrims caught in traffic snarls stretching from Nilackal to the Sannidhanam. Many were forced to remain in vehicles for hours before reaching Pampa, often without access to food or drinking water. Those who had completed darshan also faced long waits for buses to leave Pampa.

Officials attributed the chaos to ongoing road works along the Nilackal-Pampa stretch and an inadequate number of Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses to handle the pilgrim rush. Several stretches of the road remain under repair, with congestion extending as far as Attathodu. An accident along the route further disrupted traffic, compounding the delays.