Radio Tag For Children In Sabarimala Yatra To Track Them If They Get Lost

Sabarimala: A Radio Frequency Identification tag to track children under 14 years of age during the ongoing Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival season at Lord Ayyappa hill shrine was launched here today by Kerala police and Vodafone.

All children under 14 years of age would be provided the RFID tags that will be hung on their necks at Pamba, ensuring their movement and location can be tracked till the time they return to Pamba from Sannidhanam, the police said.

This initiative would help prevent incidents of children getting lost during the annual Sabarimala yatra and free the Kerala Police force time and efforts to focus on more important tasks on hand, it said.

Families travelling to Sabarimala with children under 14 years of age would have to visit the Kerala State Police office at Pamba and register to avail this service.

S Sateesh Bino, Pathanamthitta District Police Chief and Karuppasamy, Special Officer Pamba, officially launched the RFID at a function in Pamba today.

Meanwhile, the hill shrine witnessed a heavy rush of pilgrims, who had to wait for hours to get darshan.