BHUPALAPALLI DISTRICT: One year to go for the historic biennial Sammakka Sarakka Jatara at Medaram, but the district administration has already begun preparations for the tribal fair.
During the jatara held in February 2016, more than one crore devotees from Telangana and other neighbouring states thronged the venue. The Government made elaborate arrangements to make it a grand success as it was held for the first time in separate Telangana.
District collector A Murali was closeted with the officials to review the arrangements and also steps to be taken to help people coming in large numbers to the venue this year even though it is not officially conducted as a jatara.
Study visit
As part of this, a team of district level officials headed by RWS Superintendent Engineer Ramchander would visit Sabarimala during the first week of January and study the arrangements made there for crowd management and others. The officials of each department were asked to submit their proposals for works to be taken up by respective departments before January 16.
The Collector said special focus would be laid on the sanitation, which is the biggest challenge given the number of devotees who arrive at the fair. Another 10 bore wells would be dug up around the Jampanna Vagu and overhead tanks will be erected at 24 locations to provide the devotees proper filtered drinking water. Some 100 to 200 toilets would be constructed at one place for the convenience of the public.
Mini Jatara
Apart from this, proposals to build rubber dam and check dam are being considered. The fencing works around the Chilakalagutta is yet to be completed due to issues with the Forest Department.
In February, 2017, a mini Medaram jatara would be conducted where a sizeable number of devotees arrive. Collector A. Murali said devotees would be provided drinking water through water tankers. “The battery of taps at Jampanna Vagu will be made available for the devotees to take bath. Traffic, electricity and sanitation arrangements will be made soon,” he added.
