VIJAYAWADA: The district administration and the police department is taking several measures to prevent any untoward incident from happening near the beaches during the celebrations of Kartika Pournima, as heavy rush of devotees is expected to take the holy dip in the sea on Tuesday.
Two deputy superintendents of police, 23 sub-inspectors, 80 assistant sub-inspectors, 165 constables, 50 women police constables, 90 home guards, 50 special fighting force personnel (ARPCs) have been deployed at the Manginapudi beach, where the maximum number of people are expected to take the holy dip.
Another 120 police personnel have been deployed for bandobast at Hamsaladeevi in Nagaya Lanka. "The force is ready to face any unforeseen problems. We will see to it that the devotees conduct rituals peacefully," said Krishna district superintendent of police Ravindranath Babu.District collector Md Imtiaz also directed to deploy 120 swimmers and 17 boats for ensuring safety.
“I have also asked the national disaster response force (NDRF) to keep at least 35 of their officers ready for any kind of emergency situation. Keeping in view the numerous accidents that have occurred in the recent past, fool-proof arrangements have been made,” said the collector. He assured that physically challenged devotees and senior citizens can also conduct the rituals without any hassle as volunteers and wheelchairs have been arranged.
More than 400 sanitary workers have been given the responsibility to keep the beach area clean with special focus on not allowing any of the devotees to litter the place, especially with plastic. Keeping children’s safety in mind, florescent bands will be tied on their wrists to identify them in case of anyone going missing. As many as 50 special bus services will be run from various locations in Machilipatanam.
Women and Child Welfare department and Machilipatnam Urban Development Authority will be co-ordinating the celebrations.