The Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Devaswom, K. Muraleedharan, has written to the president of the Travancore Devaswom Board to check the quality of ghee being brought by devotees for preparing appam and aravana at Sabarimala. He pointed out that tens of thousands of devotees deposit ghee in the huge ghee vats, which are collected into six storage tanks. Every time these storage tanks fill up, samples must be taken and tested.

Labs jointly operated by the departments of Health, Food Safety and Forensic Medicine need to be set up at the hospitals in Sannidhanam and Pampa for this testing. The Food Safety department’s tests will help detect adulteration in food items, the Health department’s tests will help detect contamination in food items, and the Forensic Medicine department’s tests will help detect toxicity in food items.

The testing should be done using three samples taken from each storage tank — one sample will be tested at Sabarimala itself, another will be sent to the central lab of the three testing departments, and the third will be kept in a freezer for follow-up action which may be required.

In his letter, Mr. Muraleedharan said that urgent measures be taken to set up the labs before the Mandala or the pilgrimage season starts. He asked the Travancore Devaswom Board to allocate the funds required to purchase equipment for setting up the labs and to urgently arrange infrastructure facilities, including electricity and water and to extend the necessary cooperation to the allied departments.

The Minister also pointed out in his letter that ensuring the health and safety of devotees arriving for the Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season is a joint responsibility of the State government and the TDB.