6,000 special buses for Chitra Pournami

Review meeting over the basic amenities for the annual festival was chaired by Collector B. Murugesh

With less than a week left for the annual Chitra Pournami festival from April 15-16, nine temporary bus termini and over 6,000 additional buses would be operated by the district administration for the benefit of devotees travelling to the temple town in the coming days.

Officials said a review meeting over the basic amenities for the annual festival was chaired by Collector B. Murugesh, in which a decision to prevent visitors from using or carrying banned plastic items, including bags, had been taken. Instead, visitors would be encouraged to use yellow cloth bags ( manjapai). In fact, the district administration has been spearheading the ‘Meendum Manjapai’ initiative since last week.

“From our side, around 3,000 police personnel, including those for traffic regulation and bandobast, will be deployed for the festival from April 15th onwards,” A. Pavan Kumar Reddy, SP (Tiruvannamalai), told The Hindu.  Officials said 40 spots had been identified for annadanam (free food distribution), including spots on the girivalam path, where volunteers would be allowed to set up free food distribution kiosks. Till now, 70 institutions have registered themselves online to provide free food.   On Sunday, a mass cleaning of the temple town, particularly the girivalam path, was done by an army of volunteers led by the Collector. With temperatures soaring, officials said shelters and watering of the floor on the girivalam pathway will be done to ensure the safety of devotees, especially senior citizens, women and children.