Police and revenue officials inspecting the arrangements for the Suguturu Ganga Jatara in Punganur of Chittoor district on Monday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Punganur town in Chittoor district is spruced for the famous two-day Suguturu Ganga Jatara scheduled from Tuesday.

The history of the carnival dates back to the early 16th century. It received the patronage of the Vijayanagara Dynasty and the British Raj. Over 3 lakh people from all over Rayalaseema and neighbouring Karnataka join the fest every year.

Senior police officials from Chittoor and Punganur inspected the security arrangements for the Jatara and held a review meeting with the local officials at the Zamindar Palace here on Monday. Descendents of the erstwhile Zamindar families, Chikkarayalu and Mallikarjuna, attended the meeting.

The police chalked out an action plan to regulate the devotees coming for the Jatara, which included overseeing the procession routes, electrical illumination and uninterrupted power supply, sanitation, fire safety, health and barricading works.

Superintendent of Police Manikanta Chandolu, who reviewed the security arrangements, said that a parent tag system would be introduced and implemented from Monday evening to prevent the incidence of children going missing. Police in plain clothes would be deployed to curb thefts and maintain law and order by identifying miscreants and trouble-mongers.

Dedicated to Goddess Gangamma, a famous village deity, the Jatara witnesses a heavy rush of devotees from as many as 200 villages from the western parts of Chittoor and Annamayya districts, besides a large number of families having connections with the erstwhile zamindari system and settled in Bengaluru and Chennai.