Velankanni gets ready for fest

Velankanni gets ready for fest

The Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health at Velankanni where the annual festival will be held from August 28 to September 8. M. MOORTHY

Amenities such as drinking water, sanitation, resting halls and cloakrooms are made available to pilgrims and a 24-hour help centre will function till the festival concludes on September 8; police make tight security arrangements in the town

The Hindu Bureau

TIRUCHI

The Nagapattinam district administration and church authorities have stepped up arrangements for the annual festival of Our Lady of Good Health in Velankanni, which will commence on Thursday with flag hoisting.

The church expects over 10 lakh pilgrims and devotees from all over the country to attend the first-day litany, benediction, and the Holy Mass in Tamil. The festival will commence with a flag procession followed by the blessing and hoisting of Our Lady’s Flag by Most Rev. T. Sagayaraj, Bishop of Thanjavur Diocese.

Services will be held in Tamil, English, Marathi, Konkani, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi. They will be conducted in the Basilica from morning to evening and Holy Mass in Tamil at Our Lady’s Tank at 6 a.m. during the festival days. Amenities such as drinking water, sanitation, resting halls, and cloakrooms are made available to pilgrims. A 24-hour help centre will function to address the queries of the pilgrims.

Meanwhile, the district police have deployed as many as 1,108 local policemen, 200 home guards, 300 armed reserve police force, 500 special police battalion at various places in Velankanni for security and about 380 traffic police, including 19 inspectors, 50 sub-inspectors, and 311 police personnel, for traffic management during the festival days.

As many as three Additional SPs, 16 DSPs, 93 inspectors, and 212 sub-inspectors would coordinate the security arrangements for the 11-day festival on a shift basis. The police have installed 23 high surveillance towers and 150 CCTV cameras around the shrine to intensify monitoring. Six drones will be used for aerial monitoring, particularly around the coastal area.

Diversion posts have been set up in six locations to conduct round-the-clock vehicle checks and regulate traffic movement. Face recognition systems and a crime team of 25 police personnel are put in place to identify and keep check on habitual offenders. As a precautionary measure, rescue teams consisting of firefighters and expert divers, and a bomb detection squad have been kept ready. As many as 150 personnel from the coastal security group have been deployed.

The coastal area has been barricaded to restrict public access to the beach. Three rubber boats and life jackets are kept ready to meet emergencies. Local fishermen would be engaged in any emergency sea rescue operations.

Parking lots

As many as 60 parking lots have been created near the shrine to ensure the free flow of traffic.

Medical camps will be set up in more than 10 locations with doctors and staff to provide round-the-clock service to pilgrims. Ambulances will be stationed at the venue. The deployment has been put in place, anticipating a large turnout of devotees for the festival which ends on September 8.