CUTTACK/ATHAGARH: Alarmed by the tragedy at Morbi in Gujarat, where over 140 people were killed in a suspension bridge collapse, the district administration on Monday imposed section 144 of CrPC at the famous Dhabaleswar shrine ahead of the Bada Osha and Kartika Purnima festivals on November 7 and 8.
The administration has also restricted the number or people on the hanging bridge connecting the temple to a maximum 200 at a time.
The Shaiva pitha is located on an island of Mahanadi river in Athagarh. The shrine draws a multitude of devotees during the holy month of Kartika, which goes up to tens of thousands on Bada Osha.
The devotees approach the temple by boats on Mahanadi and also by road which is connected by a hanging bridge. The Dhabaleswar suspension bridge was constructed in 2006. It has a capacity to carry 600 persons at a time.
The suspension bridge leading to the shrine, on which some cracks were detected recently, will remain closed for maintenance and repairs on Tuesday. The administration’s move came after a team of experts detected some technical faults on the 254 metre long and two metre wide bridge which leads to the century-old Lord Shiva temple.
“The bridge developed some technical glitch on Saturday following which a team of experts from Kolkata was called in. The experts carried out a thorough inspection on Sunday,” said Athagarh sub-collector Hemant Kumar Swain.
However, rituals at the shrine will continue as usual, he said. The detection of cracks and defects in the bridge came at the right time and the experts’ inspection probably averted a tragedy like the one witnessed in Gujarat, said sources.