All-out bid to ensure hassle-free darshan to devotees at Medaram

Medaram (Mulugu): The administration should be ready to deal with any kind of exigency, Telangana government Chief Secretary (CS) Somesh Kumar said. The CS who along with Director General of Police (DGP) M Mahender Reddy inspected the arrangements on the first day of the four-day biennial Sammakka Saralamma jatara here on Wednesday told the officials to be on toes for the hassle-free conduct of the tribal fair.

"With the jatara is being a prestigious event of the State, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has been reviewing the situation at Medaram on day-to-day basis. The Chief Minister has also provided a helicopter for the higher officials to oversee the arrangements at Medaram," Somesh Kumar said. Stating that onus is on officials to make the jatara a grand success, he said all the devotees turning up at Medaram should return to their home with utmost satisfaction and happiness.

Speaking on the occasion, DGP Mahender Reddy said that they have deputed officials who are adept in tackling traffic related issues. "The focus should be on avoiding any untoward incident such as stampede at the jatara. The devotees should feel at home during their stay in Medaram," the DGP said.

Referring to the measures taken for the law and order at jatara where more than one crore devotees to congregate in the next four days, the DGP said that in addition to the more than 10,000 police personnel they have also deployed SHE teams for the safety and security of women. The entire jatara area is under the surveillance of closed circuit television CCTV (CCTV) cameras and drone cameras, the DGP said.

Mulugu In-charge Collector R V Karnan said that administration was well prepared for the peaceful conduct of the jatara. "In a bid to avoid stampede at the time of Sammakka's arrival at the altars, one of the main events of the jatara, we have conducted a trial run of it," Karnan said.

Earlier, the CS and the DGP inspected the precincts of Jampannavagu (stream) where devotees take holy dip before heading for darshan of the Goddesses – Sammakka and Saralamma.

Jatara Nodal Officer V P Gautham, OSD Krishna Aditya, Eturunagaram ITDA Project Officer Hanumant Kondiba Zendage and V Chakradhar Rao were among others present.