District Collector G. Veerapandian wrote to 14 of his counterparts of Karnataka and Telangana, requesting them to take necessary action to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during Ugadi Brahmotsavams to be held at the Srisailam temple from March 22 to March 26.
It is expected that a larege number of devotees would visit the temple from Belgaum, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Raichur, Gulbarga, Bidar, Yadgir, Dharwad and Bellary districts in Karnataka and from Mahabubnagar, Gadwal, Nagar Kurnool, Wanaparthy and Nalgonda districts in Telangana.
The Collector also wrote to the temple authorities directing them to take precautions. He asked Executive Officer (EO) K.S. Rama Rao to announce the measures taken on the public address system.
Also, wearing masks has been made mandatory to enter the temple.
Quick darshan
The EO was directed to see that darshan is done quickly and ‘sparsha darshanam’ is avoided. The temple would only allow ‘alankara’ darshan. All ‘arjitha sevas’ and VIP break darshan have been cancelled.
On the days of the festival, temple rituals would be performed, but devotees would not be permitted. Cultural events have also been cancelled.
The EO also appealed to people to postpone their visit to the temple and asked children below the age of 12 and senior citizens above the age of 60 not to visit the temple.
The Tahsildar of Srisailam has been instructed to make sure that handwashing protocols, proper cleanliness over frequently touched surfaces in hotels and a minimum distance of one metre between tables in hotels are maintained.
Apart from this, the district medical and health authorities have been ordered to convene a meeting of the managements of private choultries to give directions for taking preventive measures.
The health authorities along with the project officer of Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITA) have been entrusted the task of educating tribal people in the temple area. Masks and hand sanitisers should be distributed to tribal people, he added.
