Thirteen temporary bus termini have been set up on the outskirts of Tiruvannamalai town for the upcoming Chitra Pournami festival, which will be held on April 23 and 24.
On Sunday, Collector D. Bhaskara Pandian said that around 25 lakh visitors are expected to visit the Arunachaleswara temple during the festival this year. “Free shuttle services from the temporary bus termini to the temple will be arranged. A police helpline number — 8438208003 — has also been introduced for the visitors,” Mr. Pandian said.
A total of 2,500 buses, that will run 5,344 trips, will ferry devotees to Tiruvannamalai town from various parts of the State including Chennai, Vellore, Ranipet, Madurai, Salem, Tiruchi, and Coimbatore. In the Vellore transport division alone, 235 buses will be operated to the temple town from Monday evening. Apart from this, 106 buses, which includes 81 school buses, will be employed to provide free shuttle services in the town. Also, the Southern Railway will operate special trains to the town.
Other amenities
“The 14-km-long Girivalam path will have 85 health help desks and 20 medical camps to aid the visitors. Almost 2,000 sanitary workers have been employed to ensure the cleanliness of the town. And 105 NGOs have been given the nod to provide free food to people during the festival,” the Collector added.
Around 5,000 police personnel, two DIGs and 10 SPs have been roped in to ensure security. And 27 watch towers will be set up at key intersections, public places like bus termini and the Girivalam path. Around 2.2 lakh water bottles, 1.1 lakh biscuit packets and 60,000 butter milk packets have been procured to offer to the devotees for free, especially to children and pregnant women standing in queue for darshan.
