ADGP (Law and Order) Davidson Devasirvatham along with Sivaganga Superintendent of Police (in-charge) G. Chandeesh inspected the arrangements made for the temple car festival to be held on July 8 at the famous Swarnamurtheeswarar Temple in Kandadevi, Devakottai, here on Saturday.  

Mr. Chandeesh said the festival was one of the unique and culturally significant events in the southern parts of the State, after a long gap due to various reasons, and was held last year. Following that, officials held several rounds of talks with different stakeholders to ensure a peaceful event.  

At the temple, he was briefed about the security arrangements made to control the crowd, surveillance measures taken to monitor the public, and development regarding talks with the locals.  

“A total of five district SPs are to oversee the arrangements of the festival. In addition, 2,000 police personnel are to be deployed on the day of the temple car event,” Mr. Chandeesh said.  

As about 200 CCTVs were to be installed, in addition to the control room, senior officials can also access the cameras , through their mobile phones. “Through camera access, we can directly monitor the sensitive spots and also the movement of the public in and around the festival area,” he added.  

The sensitive spots at the village would be identified, and police personnel would be deployed to prevent any issues on the day of the festival. However, he said he was confident about the arrangements, as during the several talks, all disputes that were raised by the villagers were resolved. “Even today I had a final round of talks with the villagers to ensure that no one raises an issue on the day of the event.” .  

The festival will start at 6 a.m. and end at 8 a.m. on July 8 and only those possessing entry passes would be allowed near the temple car event, Mr Chandeesh said.