The Srisailam Bhramaramba Mallikarjuna Swamy temple is gearing up for the Maha Shivaratri celebrations that are set to begin on 14 February.
Collector G. Veerapandian directed authorities to ensure that devotees are not inconvenienced during the festival.
The festival would kick off on February 14 and would go on for 10 days. Authorities expect over five lakh devotees to attend the temple. Mr. Veerapandian, along with Superintendent of Police Fakkerappa Kaginelli and temple executive officer K.S. Rama Rao, held a review meeting in Srisailam on Wednesday to oversee the arrangements being done for the festival.
A meeting was held on December 28 last year, where every department was assigned specific tasks. On Wednesday, the Collector and SP inspected the progress of the works. Authorities said that all arrangements would be in place within the next seven days, well in time for the festivities.
Mr. Veerapandian asked authorities to ensure that issues like traffic, parking, hygiene and drinking water are all taken care of. He also asked authorities to take the help of police officers as required.
Four separate queues will be formed for devotees, Mr. Veerapandian said. Temporary toilets and dressing rooms will be set up near the ‘Patala Ganga’, where people take a holy dip, he said. The number of lifeguards and cleaning crews must also be increased, he noted, adding that cleaning crews would be increased at the places where ‘Annadanam’ takes place.
On the security front, authorities will set up 40 CCTV cameras in addition to the existing 280 CCTV cameras. Five drone cameras will also be used during the festival.
Medical camp
The Collector asked the temple executive officer to ensure that micro-towers of major network providers are installed on the temple premises to ensure uninterrupted mobile connectivity for the large number of devotees visiting the temple.
He also asked the rural water supply authorities to ensure enough drinking water for all devotees. The legal metrology department and food inspectors were also asked to form teams to clamp down on establishments selling adulterated food.
District medical authorities have been asked to set up a free medical camp.
Mr. Fakkerappa said that over 3,000 police officers have been assigned to provide bandobust. He said that 3,000 vehicles can be parked in an area near the temple.
Both the Collector and the SP would be closely monitoring the situation from the command room to ensure that no untoward incident occurs during the 10-day festival.