Thrissur, April 24: Thrissur Pooram or the festival of crackers in Kerala will be celebrated with much fanfare in the city of Thrissur on April 25 and 26. With the district authorities receiving the approval from Chief Controller of Explosives, devotees are geared up to mark the event in an extravagant manner.

In view of the people from across the state arriving to Thrissur, the Railway has announced a special schedule of trains travelling to the city on Wednesday. "In connection with Pooram Festival at Trichur, 16305/06 Ernakulam-Cannanore-Ernakulam Exp, 16307/08 Alleppey-Cannanore-Alleppey Exp & 16650/16649 Nagarcoil-Mangalore-Nagarcoil will stop at Punkunnam both in up and down directions for one minute on 25-4-18 and 26-4-18 (sic)," tweeted the Divisional Railway Manager of Trivandrum .

The City Traffic police has also issued guidelines for motorists, appealing for the minimal usage of personal vehicles by locals. Commuters from outside the city are recommended to use public transport. The traffic department has also clarified that large vehicles will not be allowed to enter the city between 7 am to 7 pm. Parking of all kinds of vehicles will be prohibited during the Swaraj Round - which features the maximum footfall of devotees to witness the most extravagant burst of crackers.

For the first time ever, the Kerala Police has also issued rules related to the fireworks, permitting the temple boards to burst only specific sizes of palm-leaf crackers, gundu, amittu, and kuzhi minnal.

The devotees have been barred from viewing the firecrackers burst close to the finish line. A distance of 100 metres needs to maintained, said Kerala DGP Loknath Behera.

The restrictions have been put in place considering the accident which occurred at the Puttingal Devi Temple in Kollam district on April 10, 2016, in which 114 people died and over 700 were left injured.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 24, 2018 10:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).