Overview
- The five‑day Rottela Panduga opened on Friday, June 26, at Bara Shaheed Dargah in Nellore and has attracted thousands to lakhs of devotees to Swarnala Cheruvu for the ritual exchange of rotis.
- District and state authorities have deployed large teams to manage the crowd, including more than 6,000 sanitation workers working in shifts and roughly 1,600–1,870 police personnel with CCTV, drone surveillance and a command control room.
- Special water‑safety measures are in place at the ghat: the fisheries department has assigned 45 expert swimmers across three shifts with boats available for devotees and fire and rescue units have pre‑positioned 125 personnel and rescue equipment.
- Traffic and logistics plans limit vehicle access to the core zone with dedicated parking zones, permit passes for inner areas, multiple diversion points and temporary drinking‑water, toilet and medical facilities for pilgrims.
- Officials are pitching the festival’s rising footfall as the basis for tourism investment; the government has sanctioned infrastructure funds including a reported Rs 20 crore allocation and plans to develop the dargah and lake as a tourist site.