BHUBANESWAR: In view of the mishaps and administrative lapses which resulted in loss of at least three lives in a stampede during Rath Yatra last year, chief secretary Anu Garg on Tuesday asked all departments involved in the annual festival of Lord Jagannath in Puri to submit detailed reports identifying past mistakes and outlining corrective measures to prevent a repeat.
Chairing a review meeting on Rath Yatra, slated to be held on July 16 this year, Garg directed officials to ensure the festival remains incident-free this time. “A report is expected from all departments concerned as early as possible on ways to ensure smooth conduct of the Rath Yatra,” she said.
Garg said Rath Yatra preparation meeting will be held every month and reports submitted by the departments will be discussed and acted upon. The chief secretary identified four focus areas, health services, provision of drinking water, traffic and crowd management, and sanitation. She asked officials to start preparing from now to prevent any untoward incident during the festival.
“Care must be taken to prevent crowding in front of the chariots at the time of pulling. LED screens should be put up on the Grand Road and other areas of Puri town to monitor crowd movement and take immediate action to prevent devotees from rushing to the chariots,” Garg stressed. The meeting decided that free food cannot be distributed along the Grand Road without making adequate arrangements for cleaning. It was also decided to set up 300 to 400 lavatories. The responsibility for waste management was entrusted to the Housing and Urban Development department (H&UD).
The H&UD department was entrusted the charge of waste management and asked to make adequate preparations to deal with possibility of rain and waterlogging.