CUTTACK:More than 15,000 police personnel will be deployed as the Daru Sagadi Yatra (sacred Neem wood carrying cart) of Lord Jagannath will pass through Cuttack en-route Puri on Friday through Sunday.
With lakhs of devotees expected to make a beeline for darshan and pay obeisance to the sacred wood that would be used for making the idol of Lord Jagannath during the Nabakalebara festival, the Commissionerate Police has announced massive security arrangement to ensure smooth and uneventful passage of the cart.
The police, which had to confront chaotic situations during movement of darus of Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra earlier, expect a huge rise in number this time and are leaving nothing to chance.
More than 25 platoons of police force will be deployed along the route as the Commissionerate has imposed major traffic restrictions along National Highway 5 from Friday, Commissioner RP Sharma said.
No heavy vehicle will be allowed to ply through Cuttack and Bhubaneswar on the NH on the three days even as bus movement would be regulated. Buses would ply from Bhuaneswar side as usual but movement from Cuttack would be controlled to prevent logjams on the Highway route. Lanes would be divided and put under monitoring by deployment of traffic police and other personnel to ensure smooth flow.
“Passenger vehicles like buses cannot simply be stalled for such a long period owing to huge commuter flow in the Twin City. But we will regulate the movement so that there is no problem for passengers and commuters,” Sharma said.
With the Daru bearing cart entering Cuttack on Friday, vehicular traffic has been curtailed on Cuttack-Paradip road as well as towards Kandarpur through OMP Square for two days. The cart will halt near Bidyadharpur Sai Temple overnight on Friday and resume the onward journey next day.
While the Daru is stationed at Bidyadharpur, special parking zones have been created at Potapokhari Netaji ground and Nuabazaar School ground to prevent congestion on road and allow smooth movement of devotees on foot to have darshan.
The Daru will move onwards through OMP Square to reach the Highway and go to Pratap Nagari where the procession will put up for the night. The Daru will move under a huge security cover in view of massive crowd.
As per the arrangements, police personnel will be deployed at every NH crossing to manage traffic and crowd. The cart will leave Paratap Nagari at around 4 pm on Sunday. Before an hour of its movement on NH-5, all movement of heavy vehicles will be curtailed on the road.