Over one lakh devotees arrived at the three beaches along Machilipatnams coast in Krishna district on Tuesday morning to take a holy dip on the occasion of Kartika Pournami.

The devotees started arriving at the Manginapudi, Pedapatnam and Hamsaladeevi beaches from across the State on Monday night itself.

A large number of swimmers and a battalion of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were deployed along the beaches to prevent untoward incidents.

Nearly 500 policemen and 60 women police personnel were also posted along the beaches to keep an eye on devotees and dissuade them from wading into deep waters while taking the holy dip.

District authorities deployed 120 swimmers at the Manginapudi beach alone while some swimmers were deployed on the 17 boats that patrolled the area.

At least 50 special bus services are being run between Machilipatnam and the Manginapudi and Pedapatnam beaches while special autorickshaws were provided for physically-challenged devotees and senior citizens.

Krishna Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) M. Sattibabu said that there were no reports of untoward incidents from any of the three beaches that were thrown open to the devotees. Milk has been arranged for children while changing rooms have been provided for the convenience of devotees, Mr. Sattibabu said.

By evening, at least 1.50 lakh devotees are expected to take the holy dip on the Machilipatnam coast.

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Sea of devotees throng beaches - The Hindu