BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Police are on their toes as CCTV cameras on NH 316 to Puri are not fully operational due to interrupted electricity supply and internet issues. Lakhs of people from the Twin City of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar are expected to ply on National Highway-316 to visit Puri on Thursday for Rath Yatra.
CCTV cameras have been installed at Pipili, Patnaikia, Satyabadi and Tulasi Chaura areas for smooth management of the traffic during the festival. Police are dependent on CCTV cameras to a great extent for maintaining the heavy traffic flow during the festival of Rath Yatra.
Sources said some locations on the National Highway are still facing power outages issue after extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani-ravaged Odisha coast on May 3.
Odisha Police has installed over 180 CCTV cameras in and around Puri to ensure smooth passage of the car festival. One integrated control room has been set up at Puri Town police station and one traffic control room has been set up at Kumbharpada where the police will receive all the live footage of the CCTV cameras installed at various locations.
“Due to the electricity supply problem, some CCTV cameras were not working on National Highway-16. However, we took up the matter with Central Electricity Supply Utility (CESU) to make the cameras operational before Rath Yatra. Generators are being used to run the CCTV cameras in the areas where electricity could not be restored,” Addl DGP (Law and Order) Sanjeev Panda told TNIE.