THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Gender equality might seem a far-fetched notion in Sabarimala where entry to the shrine for women aged between 10 and 50 is restricted. Still, for the women devouts, trudging up the hill path is less arduous than searching for toilets on the way from Pampa to Sannidhanam.

On the 6.5 km hike upto Sannidhanam, TDB has arranged just seven toilets for women devouts while there are more than 20 for men. Even the share of the newly introduced bio-urinals is minimal for women - with just four units. At the same time, eight clusters of bio-urinals function for men.

Most of the women devouts - in their 60s and above - often ignore the available facilities on the path due to lack of privacy. Rukmini, a woman devout from Kottayam said that they don’t use toilets until they reach sannidhanam. "We don’t feel comfortable with the design of toilets arranged on the path from Sabarimala to Sannidhanam. We have no other option but to wait till we reach Sannidhanam," said Rugmini.

The only source of solace for women devouts is at Jyothi Nagar where toilet facility is arranged for 20 women. Otherwise, they have to be 'patient' until they find an accommodation at Sannidhanam, which is again a hard task during the peak season.

The officials of TDB also admit that there has been an oversight with regard to arranging adequate number of toilets for women. "We have designed the bio-urinals for women in such a way that their privacy is ensured. But the number is less. Also there are fewer number of toilets on the way when compared to toilet blocks at Pampa or Sannidhanam," said an official associated with TDB works wing.

For older women, it may take more than two hours for the tiring hike upto Sannidhanam, and the officials are now planning to make amends.

In the newly constructed queue complexes, toilets will be equally divided for men and women. In each compartment, there will be four toilets each for men and women. However the issue of less number of toilets along the way remains unaddressed. "As of now, we are installing equal number of toilets in queue complexes at Sannidhanam. A new plan has to be charted out to ensure more toilets on the path," said an official.