Elevated exit bridge coming up at Sabarimala The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and the High Power Committee for implementation of Sabarimala Master Plan have finalised the proposal for an elevated exit bridge, linking Malikappuram with the Chandranandan Road, in an effort to ease congestion at the holy hillock, especially during rush days of the annual pilgrim season. The proposed exit bridge will stand at a height of 36 metres above the Bailey Bridge linking Malikappuram and Chandranandan Road. It will be a 326-metre-long, 10-metre-wide steel structure. The fly-over around the sanctum sanctorum of the Ayyappa temple would be demolished and the pilgrims would be directed to the temple sopanam through the main entrance of the temple. After the holy darshan, they would be diverted through the fly-over leading to the Malikappuram temple. With the completion of the proposed exit bridge, pilgrims need not return to the ValiyaNadapandal and the Lower Tirumuttom for their return journey. This would not only decongest the Lower Tirumuttom and the ValiyaNadapandal but also help the pilgrims to have a smooth holy darshan avoiding a long wait. The idea was to regulate the pilgrim flow through 13 self-contained queue complexes on the Saramkuthy path leading to the ValiyaNadapandal and from there to the Lower Tirumuttom to ascend the holy 18-steps. The exit bridge could also be utilised as an emergency evacuation route in case of an exigency. Kerala Electrical and Allied Engineering Company Limited(KEL) had been given the contract to construct the proposed exit bridge at an estimated cost of Rs.21 crore. The work on the proposed exit bridge in steel is expected to begin in January with a gestation period of 18 months.