Arrangements made for ‘Thai Poosam’ festival

With ‘Thai Poosam’ car festival scheduled for February 3, elaborate arrangements have been made on the hill temple here for the convenience of pilgrims, mostly padayatris. A total of 3,600 police personnel will be deployed for the festival.

Addressing a special meeting to review arrangements here on Friday, Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister R. Kamaraj said that priority should be given for safety of pilgrims through effective crowd management.

The Minister questioned about inordinate delay in laying walkers’ path between Dindigul and Palani.

On security arrangements, Deputy Superintendant of Police Shanmuga Sundaram said that Palani-Oddanchatram highway will be converted into one-way five days before the car festival.

All vehicles proceeding to Palani from Dindigul and southern districts will be diverted at Oddanchatram and made to pass through Kallimandhayam to reach Palani. Vehicles from Palani only will be allowed to pass through Palani-Dindigul highway. Only buses will be allowed to enter Oddanchatram.

All private vehicles will be diverted at Oddanchatram bypass road to go to Kallimandhayam.

Control rooms

Two control rooms — one on hill temple and another on the foothill — will be established to regulate crowd and monitor movement of people. Eight dome cameras and 19 surveillance cameras will be installed at vantage points, including the hill temple, Sri Padhavinayagar Temple and rope car station and public address system will be fitted to alert people.

Police personnel were deployed not only in the temple town but also at bottlenecks near all junctions on Dindigul-Palani highway.

Security has been beefed up at winch and rope car stations and Padhavinayagar Temple area.

Separate path to climb the hill was provided at Kudamuzhukku Mandapam to avoid congestion, said Collector T.N. Hariharan. Pilgrims climbing the hill will pass through elephant path and reach the hill.

The hill step way that starts at Sri Padha Vinayagar Temple will be used by pilgrims to climb down from the hill.

A waiting hall was constructed near Kudamuzhukku mandapam to keep the crowd. The crowd was regulated in the plains itself. Pilgrims were allowed to go to hill on the basis of the capacity of the hill. On clearance of one batch, next batch will be allowed to go, to avoid stampede.