The police have geared up for the Vaikunta Ekadasi festival at Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in anticipation of a big turnout of devotees .
The festival that starts on December 21 and ends on January 11.
The Vaikunta Ekadasi day, which falls on January 1, and the preceding day would witness heavy deployment of police personnel in Srirangam and other parts of the city to regulate movement of devotees, vehicular traffic, and crime prevention.
Inaugurating a temporary police outpost inside the temple on Friday, Commissioner of Police Shailesh Kumar Yadav said that around 4,000 police personnel would be deployed on December 31 and January 1 in Srirangam and other parts of the city. Twenty-four closed circuit television units have been installed at vantage points inside the temple.
The CCTVs were linked to the police outpost to monitor the movements of devotees. Four speed dome cameras and seven watchtowers have also been established to step up vigil.
LED and LCD televisions have been installed at 18 places to help devotees view the festival.
Three sets of public address systems – one by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department and two by the city police – have been put up to guide the devotees.
Personnel of the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad armed with the necessary paraphernalia have been posted at 12 places. Parking lots have also been set up near the temple, Mr.Yadav said. Crime prevention teams would be deployed to curb offences and intelligence personnel would be posted to collect information, he said. The city police have mapped resource availability for contingency response, he added.