Chief minister reviews arrangements for Attukal Pongala

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that preparations for the upcoming Attukal Pongala festival were progressing efficiently. He was speaking at a review meeting held at Devi auditorium of the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple on Sunday.The chief minister said that, based on discussions held earlier, various departments were ensuring co-ordinated interventions. As in previous years, all necessary arrangements were being made to conduct the festival smoothly and grandly. With a massive turnout of devotees expected, the chief minister directed officials to exercise utmost vigilance and ensure that residents faced minimal inconvenience. Adequate facilities must be provided so that devotees do not encounter any difficulty, he added.
Health department will deploy medical teams from Monday to March 4, with 10 ambulances and bike responders on duty. Govt and private hospitals have set aside 10 beds each for emergencies and 12 heat clinics will function in and around the temple and across the city. Special squads and a mobile lab under food safety department will conduct inspections from Monday. For security, 5,855 police personnel, mostly women officers, were deployed across four zones. Surveillance measures include drone monitoring, 83 newly installed CCTV cameras and five watch towers. A 24-hour police control room was also set up and QR code-based parking arrangements were introduced. KSRTC will operate 700 special services and 250 budget tourism buses, along with chain services using small electric buses. Railways will run special trains and permit additional stops. Thiruvananthapuram corporation deployed 2,610 sanitation workers and arranged 200 tipper trucks for waste removal after pongala. A strict green protocol will be enforced, promoting plastic-free ‘Haritha Pongala Kits'. Fire and rescue department readied 51 vehicles. On pongala day, restrictions on temple darshan will be in place from 1.30pm to 7pm due to a lunar eclipse. Sub-collector O V Alfred was appointed nodal officer for the festival.