Overview
- Authorities set a 20,000-per-day cap on spot bookings and limited total daily entry to one lakh pilgrims beginning Wednesday.
- Access from Nilakkal to Pamba is now regulated by hourly footfall, with seven new booking counters and overnight facilities at Nilakkal to stagger arrivals.
- Police, the Travancore Devaswom Board and NDRF expanded deployments, with a team on site from Thrissur and another expected from Chennai, alongside added staff and 200 cleaners.
- Officials attributed the crush to queue-cutting and virtual-Q no-shows, and police said they permitted about 37,000 spot bookings during the peak before the cap took effect.
- A 58-year-old woman died after collapsing in a queue and a bus overturned near Erumely with minor injuries, as opposition leaders criticized preparedness and sought High Court intervention.