Guwahati June 16: Hectic preparations are afoot at the Kamakhya temple for the annual five-day Ambubachi mela, beginning on June 22. The police and civil administration have drawn up an elaborate blueprint to ensure that the festivities go off peacefully.

Over two lakh devotees from all over the world are expected to congregate at the Nilachal Hill shrine during the five-day fair.

Deputy commissioner of Kamrup (metro) Samir Kumar Sinha visited the temple today to take stock of the ongoing preparations. ?We are working overtime so that all the basic facilities such as drinking water and lighting arrangements can be completed on time,? Sinha said.

Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) commissioner Avinash Joshi and senior superintendent of city police Vijaya Krishna Ramisetti also visited the temple to review the progress of the arrangements for the mela.

A special Ambubachi Mela Parichalana Committee has been formed to look after the arrangements. The committee will take the help of Scouts, Guides, various students? organisations and NGOs to manage the flood of pilgrims.

Though elaborate arrangements are being made for the convenience of the visitors, shortage of water and post-mela hygiene remain the principal causes of concern for the authorities.

?This time we have laid special emphasis on maintaining cleanliness during the mela days. I have requested the GMC to depute conservancy workers in adequate numbers for special cleanliness drives during the festival,? Sinha said. Over 80 workers will be engaged round-the-clock to maintain cleanliness on the hilltop.

The corporation will construct 200 makeshift public toilets for the devotees. Temporary sheds are also being erected near the temple to provide accommodation to outstation pilgrims.

This year, strict instructions have been issued not to serve food on the temple premises. The authorities have identified an alternative site near the Bhubaneshwari temple for distribution of food.

The deputy commissioner said that arrangements for special buses and taxis will be made at the Guwahati railway station and the ASTC bus terminus at Paltan Bazar to ferry pilgrims to the hilltop shrine.

The GMC has already started electrification of the main road from the foothill to the temple and medical camps will also be set up shortly. At least two ambulances will be kept ready for any emergency.

To pre-empt any law and order crisis during the mela, special police pickets will be posted atop the hill and police patrol will be intensified in and around the temple. Policemen in plainclothes will also be deployed during the festival.

Vijaya Krishna Ramisetti said that the security blueprint would be chalked out in co-ordination with the district administration and the temple authorities. ?Adequate police personnel will be deployed and a control room set up,? Ramisetti said.

The Ambubachi mela will commence from night of June 22 when the temple doors will be closed to the devotees. The doors will remain closed till June 24. Around one lakh pilgrims are expected to enter the sanctum sanctorum for darshan when the temple reopens for devotees at 7 am on June 25.