Minister reviews Pongala crowd management plans

T'puram: With the number of devotees attending the Attukal Pongala festival increasing each year, revenue minister K Rajan stressed that there should be no complacency in managing the crowd.
Rajan said that the festival should be made successful by welcoming people, not by restricting them. He was speaking at a meeting of revenue officials and disaster management authority, organized at the temple trust hall, to evaluate the preparations for Pongala on Wednesday.
Post-Covid, respiratory problems have increased among people. If such devotees face any difficulties during the Pongala, necessary facilities should be in place to shift them to hospitals, the minister added.
The district administration's emergency action plan for the Pongala was submitted to the minister. It is a very detailed action plan and instructions will be given to the officials concerned accordingly, the minister said.
A meeting of private hospitals was convened to tackle the need to handle emergencies arising on the day of the Pongala, informed sub-collector Alfred OV. Instructions were given to reserve 10 beds in each private hospital and to set up burn ICUs. He also mentioned that volunteer services would be made available for the Pongala. ADM Beena P Anand, revenue principal secretary Tinku Biswal, land revenue joint commissioner A Geetha, KDMA member secretary Shekhar Kuriakose and otherofficials participated in the meet.