TUMAKURU:  Anticipating lakhs of devotees to offer last respects to Shivakumara Swami, the police have made elaborate arrangements to manage crowds and traffic. Inspector General of Police (IGP, Central Range) B Dayanand told media that traffic will be diverted from Pune-Bengaluru National Highway (NH-4) at various junctions to avoid logjams in the city. 

"Only those vehicles carrying devotees to offer last respects to the seer will be allowed to enter Tumakuru city limits, while other vehicles will have to take diversions," he said. The diversions are aimed at ensuring free movements of vehicles as there will be VIP movements along the highway, he said. Dayanand said a total of 3,500 police personnel have been deployed to ensure security and free flow of traffic. Thirty Karnataka State Reserve Police platoons and 26 Armed Reserve platoons have been pressed into service. 

Traffic diversion
Vehicles plying towards Pune along NH-4 will have to take a diversion at Dabaspet, and travel via Sira in Tumakuru district, before reaching the same highway. Vehicles moving towards Shivamogga will be diverted at Nelamangala via Kunigal or Tiptur. "Interior roads are good and the police have been deployed at key locations to direct the traffic," Dayanand said.

Devotees travelling from Bengaluru will have to travel via the service road and park their vehicles near Junior College. Parking arrangements are made at different corners of the city for devotees coming from North Karnataka, Shivamogga region and others, he said.

Tumakuru Road is toll-free today
Travelling on Tumakuru highway and around Nelamangala are made toll- free to clear the heavy traffic. The toll-free service will continue till Tuesday evening. About 200 policemen were deployed on Monday to clear VIP movements and over 5,000 vehicles moved towards Tumakuru till 6 pm.Traffic diversions were in place around Dobbaspet and Arishinakunte. Heavy vehicles were made to use Gubbi and Dobbaspet roads to check heavy traffic on Tumakuru Road.  People were seen heading towards Tumakuru in large numbers in buses on Monday following the death of the seer.

KSRTC to operate more than 100 buses in Tumakuru 
KSRTC will operate over 100 special buses from various points within Tumakuru to Siddaganga mutt to enable followers to attend the seer’s  funeral on Tuesday. A press release said KSRTC will operate more than 100 buses from the local KSRTC bus stand, railway station, APMC Yard and the Junior College to the mutt. Additional buses will also operate from all districts of the state to Tumakuru.  

Special trains will carry mourners from Bengaluru
South Western Railway will run special trains between Bengaluru and Tumakuru on Tuesday. Train 06225 will leave Yeshwantpur at 7.30 am, while train number 6227 will leave the same station at 12 noon. In return direction, train number 6226 will leave Tumakuru at 9.40 am and arrive Yeshwantpur at 11.10 am. Train number 06228 will leave Tumakuru at 2.45 pm and arrive at Yeshwantpur at 4.15 pm.