Drawing on the experience and data of previous editions, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) has drawn up a detailed transport plan catering to the transport needs of the pilgrims visiting Kumbakonam during the Mahamaham scheduled for February 22.
During the Mahamaham held on February 18, 1992, an estimated 22.36 lakh pilgrims visited the temple town over five days while in the subsequent event that fell on March 6, 2004, 16.59 lakh pilgrims thronged Kumbakonam and that included 8.59 lakh pilgrims who arrived by bus while another eight lakh came by train, over a period of 10 days. There was opinion that attributed the drop in the number of pilgrims to the unfortunate incidents that marred the 1992 events.
During the approaching Mahamaham, the TNSTC hopes to transport at least 20 lakh people over 10 days and consequently the authorities have charted a detailed plan to undertake the task. The passenger flow chart during the peak five days of the festival prepared by the TNSTC reveals that the transportation demand might be high on the Mahamaham day and the following day.
The plan was reviewed by the high-level committee headed by Chief Secretary K. Gnanadesikan and other officials in the presence of Ministers during the recent preparatory meet at Kumbakonam.
During 1992, the TNSTC operated 1,855 buses that undertook 13,790 single trips bringing in 8.34 lakh passengers and transporting out 7.99 lakh pilgrims out of Kumbakonam on the D-day on February 18 that year. During the previous two days, the TNSTC operated 18,800 singles bringing in 5.46 lakh pilgrims and transporting out of Kumbakonam 3.55 lakh people while in the two days succeeding the 1992 Mahamaham, the corporations met the demands of 5.11 lakh pilgrims who came in and 10.82 lakh who left the town after participating in the rituals. During that year, in all 49,175 singles were operated.
As for the 2004 Mahamaham that was spread over 10 days, the TNSTC pressed into service 3,732 buses operating 31,667 singles bringing in 7.33 lakh pilgrims and taking out 7.52 lakh passengers from Kumbakonam to various destinations.
While 1,000 special buses were pressed into service in 1992, the TNSTC operated 2,030 special buses for meeting the transportation needs of the pilgrims.
This time, the TNSTC plans to deploy 2,800 special buses including 100 link services to clear the festival rush and that is 770 buses more than the previous edition.
The destinations to be covered include Thanjavur, Chennai, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore, Puducherry, Karaikal, Nagapattinam, Tiruchi, Pudukkottai, Madurai, Dindigul, Karur, Erode, Tirupur, Coimbatore, Salem, and Sathyamangalam.
For the festival, TNSTC Kumbakonam itself is operating 1,250 buses, while TNSTC Villupuram would ply 450 buses, TNSTC Salem another 200, TNSTC Coimbatore 250, TNSTC Madurai 200, TNSTC Tirunelveli 100 and State Express Transport Corporation 350 buses for the upcoming Mahamaham.
As for the human resources to be deployed, the TNSTC plan to draft in 1,450 personnel including Managing Directors (10), General Managers (12), Divisional Managers (30) and technical staff numbering 540 for meeting the transportation demands. From the lessons learnt during the previous Mahamaham festivals, the TNSTC plans to put in place a shuttle system to link all seven temporary bus stands, the main bus stand and the spare bus stand. That would facilitate taking the pilgrims to the shortest possible location near the tank.
All those moves are aimed at meeting the huge demand for hassle-free mobility of the pilgrims to and from Kumbakonam.
