Thiruvananthapuram: The Army will build two Bailey bridges across the Pampa river to restore connectivity between two paths to the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa at Sabiramala, damaged in the floods, a body governing it said.
The Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the temple, at its review meeting here yesterday to take stock of the post flood situation in areas of Pampa decided to hand over work on constructing the uphill and downhill paths to the Army.
One bridge would be used for the movement of emergency vehicles like ambulances, and the other for devotees to cross the river, an official press release said here.
The bridge would connect the Pampa hill-top and the Ganapathy temple across the river, it said.
The TDB also decided to take steps to remove the mounds silt which had accumulated in the riverbed, it added.
Co-operation, Tourism and Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran and Devaswom president A Padmakumar were among those who attended the meeting.
The board had asked devotees to avoid visiting the temple during the ongoing Onam festival season.
However, the temple was opened for Onam poojas yesterday and would be closed on 28 August.
The floods in Kerala has left 231 dead since 8 August and forced more than 10 lakh people out of their homes.