VIJAYAWADA: Vijayawada is all set to witness the celebrations of Dasara, the biggest annual festival in the city, to be organised atop Indrakeeladri from September 29 (Sunday) to October 8.Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam (SDMSD) officials released poster of the 10-day festivities earlier and asked devotees to visit the temple.
With the festival inching closer, more than 80 per cent of arrangements have been taken care of. Laying of queue lines, constructing temporary shelters, decorating the temple and its premises, creating parking spaces, command control room at the model-guest house, shower bath pipes, tonsuring hall, clock rooms, shoe stands, toilets, information centres, changing rooms and medical camps were set up.
All roads leading to the temple are being spruced up and barricades are being erected. Welcoming arches have been put up on the Canal Road, Bhavanipuram, Gollapudi, Enikepadu and other places in the city.
“Small works such as lighting, laying floor mats in the queue lines are yet to be completed. The pending works will be completed by Saturday afternoon and queue lines will be opened for devotees from Sunday early hours,” temple executive officer (EO) MV Suresh Babu told TNIE.
Along with free darshan queue lines, `300 and `100 special darshanam will be available for the devotees. The EO said the temple will be spending more than `7 crore for arrangements.He said thirteen prasadam counters will be arranged and 300 traditional cooks were deployed to make 25 lakh laddus.
“Ensuring hassle-free darshan is our priority. We are expecting a footfall of more than 15 lakh this year. In 2018, 14 lakh devotees had visited the temple,” Suresh Babu said, adding that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will visit the temple on October 5 and present silk-robes to the deity.
Elaborating on the security arrangements, Vijayawada city commissioner of police (CP) Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao said 2,000 police personnel from the city, 2,500 from various districts and 35 platoons of special police parties will be used for crowd management and other duties.
“We have made elaborate arrangements for ensuring safety and security of the devotees. As many as 12 parking lots have been created. A mobile app was created so that devotees can reach their nearest parking location,” said Tirumala Rao. For monitoring every movement, 125 CCTV cameras were installed, which will be monitored from the command control room. “The VIPs have been asked to visit the temple in the slots of 7 am, 11 am, 3 pm and 8 pm,” he added.
Water resources dept gives warning
The State Water Resources department has cautioned citizens, advising them to take utmost care while venturing into rivers during the upcoming festivities for a holy bath as the water bodies have heavy inflows. It also advised the people to postpone any picnic planned in rivers and seas till the water levels get back to normal. With heavy rainfall warning in place, the department also cautioned fishermen from venturing into rivers and canals. Those living in low-lying areas have been intimated about the possibility of inundation, and minister P Anil Kumar directed the revenue and water resources officials to work in coordination to reduce any possible effects of flooding
Avatars
September 29 (Sunday)
Sri Swarna Kavachalankrutha Sri Durga Devi
September 30
(Monday)
Sri Balatripura Sundari Devi
October 1 (Tuesday)
Sri Gayatri Devi
October 2 (Wednesday)
Sri Annapurna Devi
October 3 (Thursday)
Sri Lalitha Tripura Sundari Devi
October 4 (Friday)
Sri Mahalakshmi Devi
October 5 (Saturday)
Sri Saraswati Devi
October 6 (Sunday)
Sri Durga Devi
October 7 (Monday)
Sri Mahishashuramardani Devi
October 8 (Tuesday)
Sri Raja Rajeswari Devi
2,000 city police personnels for crowd management
State govt has appointed 36 persons as members of the Festival Committee -2019
Two separate slots arranged for Ubhayadhathalu (donors)
Crime parties deployed to keep an eye on thieves and criminals
CCTV cameras, drones and falcon vehicle to help in monitoring public movements
No traffic diversion during normal days
Resting areas created for devotees to take shelter during night hours
Four slots given to VIP devotees. If anyone comes earlier, he/she will be asked to wait for their turn
This time, the ground level staff has been reduced by 20 per cent and officials will be participating in the festival duties round the clock
Three public addressing systems set up
Police ask public to utilise the parking mobile application