KOCHI: Expressing concern over the plant used for the preparation of aravana, the Devaswom Ombudsman on Wednesday submitted before the Kerala High Court that a new aravana plant is essential at Sabarimala. According to Justice R Bhaskaran, the Ombudsman for the Travancore and Cochin Devaswom Boards, the existing plant is very old. He said that, if it did not function properly, there would be a serious scarcity of aravana. At the end of the mandalam season in 2011, 28,000 cans of aravana prasadam were burst inside the store at the Sannidhanam. After the incident, the Special Commissioner had submitted before the court that the sugar content in the damaged aravana containers were below 60 per cent which eventually led to the bursting. Considering this, the court had earlier directed the Devaswom Ombudsman to examine the matter. The Ombudsman said that the cans which were made of paper could be replaced by tin cans and the cost would not be higher. Earlier, plastic was used to cover the cans so that the content could be used later. Now, once the can is opened, the entire content has to be used immediately, he said. The Ombudsman also submitted that the Food Safety Commissioner had agreed to make the tests at Sabarimala and Pampa and whenever sugar content was found to be less, it would be reported and action should be taken to reject the jaggery and claim damages.
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