10K cops, 330 CCTV, to watch over Medaram Jatara

Hyderabad: As many as 10,000 police personnel and 330 surveillance cameras will be pressed into service for the smooth conduct of the Medaram Sammakka Saralamma Jatara in Mulugu district of Telangana from February 5 to 8.

The security blanket also includes 20 pan-tilt-zoom cameras that can be remotely operated, to monitor crowd movement at the event, which is one of the largest congregations in the world. These cameras will be connected to the command and control centre at the Police Commissioner’s office in Warangal district.

Devotees from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra flock to the biannual Medaram Jatara. Close to 1.2 crore devotees had taken part in the festival last time and officials are expecting more devotees this time.

The police personnel will be on bandobast duty from February 2 till February 8. Warangal Range IG Y Nagi Reddy will coordinate with the officers from various departments for the smooth conduct of the festival.

Ramagundam Police Commissioner Y Satyanarayana will be in-charge of security at Medaram, while Warangal police chief V Ravinder will take care of the traffic arrangements.

The arrival of VIPs will start from February 5. The Mulugu district administration has constructed three helipads for the choppers carrying the VIPs. Two more helipads have also been built to enable private entities to operate chopper services for devotees.

“We are making foolproof security arrangements for the festival,” said Nagi Reddy, who is coordinating the security arrangements for the festival for the third time. Separates forces have entrusted with the task of keeping an eye on strongholds of Left Wing Extremists.

Seventy women sub-inspectors along with constables will be posted at Medaram till February 8. They will keep a tab on those creating nuisance. Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Director-General of Police M Mahendar Reddy and other officials visited Medaram a few days ago to review the arrangements.