National Disaster Response Force teams brace for Pushkar plunge

National Disaster Response Force teams brace for Pushkar plunge
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Highlights

The State government has stationed quick response teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) at Pushkar ghats where at least two crore people are expected to take a dip during the 12-day Krishna Pushkaralu starting from Friday (August 12).

Hyderabad: The State government has stationed quick response teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) at Pushkar ghats where at least two crore people are expected to take a dip during the 12-day Krishna Pushkaralu starting from Friday (August 12).

Spread out in two districts of Telangana - Nalgonda and Mahbubnagar, these teams comprising 48 members each are equipped with speed boats and well-trained swimmers.

  • At least 2 crore people are expected to take a dip during the 12-day event
  • These teams comprising 48 members each are equipped with speed boats and well-trained swimmers

Speaking to ‘The Hans India’, Dr G Venkat Ram Reddy, Special Commissioner, Disaster Management, informed that officials who were engaged in arrangements had already been trained in crowd management for the past several days. He said that apart from training, NDRF teams were equipped to react within a short time in the wake of any untoward incident.

He asked pilgrims taking bath in River Krishna to take note of the precautions provided by the authorities, so that they do not venture into deep waters and restrict themselves by taking a bath within the iron mesh demarcated as bathing spots. “We are taking all preventive measures in view of the huge inflows, but devotees should also take note of instructions of the authorities, volunteers and police officials present at the ghats for their own safety,” the special commissioner said.

It may be recalled that at least 27 people, including four women died, while several were injured when a stampede occurred at Rajahmundry in AP during the Godavari Pushkaralu in June 2015. The stampede brought to the fore the failure of the official machinery in making proper scientific ground work for the Godavari Pushkaralu that witnessed the second highest human gathering in the country after Kumbh Mela in Allahabad.

The 12-day Krishna Pushkaralu is commencing from August 12 and would be held till August 23. Mahbubnagar district has 52 ghats in total with 10 major ghats, 15 minor ghats and 27 village ghats. As a huge number of pilgrims were expected to take the holy dip, elaborate security arrangements had been made by Mahbubnagar district police.

To bring in efficiency in the force deployment and to ensure effective service delivery to the citizens, technology was being used widely, he said. Ahead of Krishna Pushkaralu, the district police have also launched a navigation app, ‘krisP’ to facilitate easy direction services and ready reference to the pilgrims.

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