Heavy deployment, effective control mark incident-free Pongala

The Pongala festival was held peacefully on Tuesday with no major untoward incidents reported.

Among the few fire mishaps that were recorded, one devotee suffered 12% burns after her saree caught fire from the hearth lit for the ritual at Chakka. The injured, Sandhya, a native of Kilimanoor, was subsequently admitted to the Thiruvananthapuam Government Medical College Hospital. Other fire-related emergencies were reported from Vanchiyoor, Bakery junction and the Housing Board junction.

The Kerala Fire and Rescue Services also received nearly 40 incident calls, mostly related to devotees developing uneasiness due to the intense heat.

Nearly 450 Fire and Rescue Services personnel, home guards and civil defence volunteers had been deployed across five sectors as part of the arrangements. Three water tenders, a mini-water tender, ambulances, a foam tender, water lorries, water mists and other vehicles were stationed at various locations in the city.

A parked car was gutted after it caught fire, reportedly sparked by flames from a nearby heap of garbage on the premises of the PWD Rest House.

Three cases of chain-snatching were also reported from parts of city, but no formal complaints were received by the City police.

The State government deployed around 5,000 police personnel, including women officers, across four zones for the safety of the devotees. Drone surveillance, a robust network of CCTV cameras and five watch towers had also been set up for crowd control.

In addition to a main control room that functioned from the temple compound, a dedicated women’s control room was also operationalised to provide assistance to women devotees. Public announcement systems also functioned at various locations to disseminate safety instructions and real-time information to the public.

Throughout the day, most arterial roads, barring those leading to Attukal Bhagavathy Temple, remained clear as the police effectively regulated traffic to ensure smooth vehicular movement.