9,000 Devotees Expected For Katchatheevu St Anthony Festival: Jaffna District Secretary

A consultation meeting was held on Friday on the preparations for the Katchatheevu Festival to be held on March 14 and 15. The meeting was attended by officials from the Indian Consulate, the Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy, and health department officials. The arrangements to be made for the pilgrims from India to participate in the festival were discussed in today's first-level meeting.

The meeting was held at the Jaffna District Secretariat. Acting District Secretary M. Piratheepan informed about the meeting. A total of 9,000 pilgrims, including 4,000 each from India and Sri Lanka, are expected to participate in the Katchatheevu festival this time, he said.

In particular, the provision of basic facilities including drinking water and transportation for the pilgrims coming to the festival was discussed. Furthermore, the provision of meals, on March 14th night and March 15th morning was also discussed in today's meeting.

Government and private buses will be operated from Jaffna to Katchatheevu for the convenience of the pilgrims who will participate in the festival. The buses will operate from 4 am to 11:30 am on March 14. The one-way fare from Neduntheevu to Katchatheevu has been fixed at Rs. 1,000 and from Kurigattuvan to Katchatheevu at Rs. 1,300. The Navy authorities have been instructed to issue the relevant certificate to the owners of private boats who wish to provide boat transport services.