Elaborate security for Puri Rath Yatra

Puri, May 19 (UNI) All identified 'unsafe' buildings around the Jagannath temple and alongside the Grand road will be sealed and section 144 Cr PC imposed during the nine-day annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath beginning here on June 27.

The owners of these buildings would be served a 15-day notice to not allow anybody to use the buildings during the Rath Yatra.

In all, 63 platoons of police force and Rapid Action Force (RAF) would be deployed for the smooth conduct of the festival. As many as 120 senior IPS officers, 500 Inspectors and Sub-Inspectors, besides a large number of home guards and ASI would maintain the law and order situation.

Plainclothes men, bomb disposal units and dog squads would be deployed, while special attention would be given to vehicular traffic regulation and parking.

The decisions were taken at the second high level annual Rath Yatra co-ordination committee meeting held here yesterday. The meeting attended by top officials of the state, expressed concern that even after warning, the owners of unsafe buildings were letting out the buildings for sitting arrangements for the pilgrims on payment.

The meeting also decided that all stray cattle and bulls in the city would be shifted to Saptasajya in Dhenkanal district by the Temple and Animal Husbandry department.

The wildlife officials pleaded their inability to trap the monkeys posing a threat to the residents and visitors in the pilgrim city. The meeting also failed to take any decision over the presence of large number of stray dogs in the city, but would keep a reserve of anti rabies vaccine in the hospital.

The railways agreed to run 48 trains to Puri from different destinations during the Yatra and keep additional three trains ready to meet extra rush of traffic during the Rath yatra, Return Car festival and on Suna Vesha day. Special trains would run from Berhampur, Sambalpur, Kharagpur and Howrah, officials said.

Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) of central division Nikunja Kishore Sunder Ray, District Magistrate Aswiny Kumar Das, Jagannath Temple Chief Administrator S C Mahapatra, Orissa Legislative Assembly Speaker Maheswar Mohanty, Civic body chairman Gourahari Pradhan, DIG of Police Yogesh Bahadur Khurania and Puri Superintendent of Police Sanjib Kumar Panda, among others, attended the meeting.

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