A Rapid Assessment of Food and Sanitary Practices of Pilgrims Visiting Kotappakondaon Mahasivaratri in Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Introduction:. Mela� meaning �fair� or �gathering� and the pilgrims include religious and holy men and women from different sections of population. The government has to manage prior planning a needs to manage thousands of pilgrims arriving from all across the Districts, States. The logistics of the water, sanitation, security, food and health, needs for meticulous planning and quick responses. Objectives: 1. To review the food, refreshments and water arrangements for the piligrims attending the Kotappakonda on Mahasivaratri.2. To determine the sanitary precautions were taken to maintain cleanliness and hygiene in the premises of temple, on hilly area and below the hilly area. Methodology:. An Epidemiological survey was conducted on the day of Maha Shivaratri, above the hilly area and also surrounding near by village areas of Kotappakonda Lord shiva temple, which is nearest to Narsaraopeta Tashil of Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh. Twenty Medical students and two faculty members and two health staff of the institute were trained for more than two days and they were explained about each and every question of the questionnaire Food and refreshment arrangements like availability of freshly prepared food at food stalls proper coverage of foods and also method of disposal of remaining food; availability of bathrooms and toilets, whether they were clean or not, permanent or makeshift, availability of water details were also assessed. Results: Out of total 187 inspections in 18.7 % places food was properly covered at the stalls.28.8 % of the pilgrims were used the dustbins for disposing the leftover food and the remaining 72.2 % dumped the food on road side.54 % study participants mentioned that hotel food was fresh, as per 48.1 % public observation it was tasty. Only 36.9 % pilgrims� expressed that this food was hygienic.68.4 % of bath rooms were clean and 76.4 % of them have proper water availability. It was observed that 63 % of pilgrims were satisfied with Sanitary measures and 37 % were not satisfied with these arrangements of toilets. Conclusions: Fresh, hygienic, tasty and properly covered food need to be available either at food stalls or Free Food Distribution places. Proper waste disposal system need to be established and sufficient number of dustbins can be placed in different areas. Good numbers of makeshift toilets need to be placed during Maha shivaratri above and below the hilly areas