BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to prevent traffic congestion during Bahuda Yatra and other major rituals in Puri, Odisha Police has planned to send bulk SMSes providing realtime information to the people travelling to the pilgrim town.
“Residents of districts and cities like Khurda, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and Jajpur will receive SMSes having travel alerts from 6 am on Bahuda Yatra day. The service will continue on Suna Besha and end the next morning on Monday,” said a senior officer.
About 70 platoons of police force will be deployed to ensure smooth traffic flow on Bahuda Yatra and Suna Besha which will be celebrated on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Police said waiting time is expected while travelling to Puri as vehicle movement will be regulated and they will be diverted to different parking places via Malatipatpur, Hotel Sterling and Talabania.
ADG (Communication) Dayal Gangwar, who is in charge of the integrated control room and traffic, held a meeting with Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police commissioner S Dev Datta Singh and SPs of districts earlier in the day and discussed measures to regulate traffic approaching towards the temple town this weekend.
Gangwar is being assisted by DIG Kanwar Vishal Singh in traffic management. On the day, Puri police issued a detailed traffic advisory for travellers from Brahmagiri, Konark and Bhubaneswar. Police also issued 24x7 helpline numbers - 6370967100/06752-232551 for the citizens in case they need any assistance.