Officials gearing up for Medaram Jatara

According to Mulugu district collector Ila Tripathi, Ministers Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Ponnam Prabhakar, Konda Surekha and Dansari Anasuya would be holding a review meeting on Medaram jatara preparedness on Monday.

Mulugu: Even as the authorities are gearing up for the biennial Sammakka-Saralamma fair, popularly known as Medaram Jatara, scheduled to begin on February 21, the flow of devotees is increasing every passing day.

During the last one month over 50 lakh devotees visited the temple of tribal goddesses Sammakka-Saralamma and the local authorities are expecting over 50 lakh devotees to visit during the three-day jatara.

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According to Mulugu district collector Ila Tripathi, Ministers Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Ponnam Prabhakar, Konda Surekha and Dansari Anasuya would be holding a review meeting on Medaram jatara preparedness on Monday. The officials reviewed various facilities including ticket-issuing counters, bus parking points, and queue railings spanning 55 acres at Medaram on Sunday.

The district administration has installed 4800 CCTV cameras at the venue to keep track of crowds and to maintain law and order during the jatara. The TSRTC is running 6,000 buses from various destinations to ferry pilgrims to the fair. In order to maintain cleanliness and hygiene during the fair, the district administration has deployed 1,000 sanitation workers and constructed 5,600 toilets at the fair venue.

The Energy Department has set up a separate substation at the venue to ensure uninterrupted power supply. Similarly, a separate command control room has been set up under the supervision of five IAS officers. The government had allocated Rs.75 crore for making permanent as well as temporary arrangements for this biennial event, with an additional Rs. 35 crore pending approval.