BHUBANESWAR: Faced with mounting pressure over conduct of Rath Yatra, the State Government on Sunday changed its stand and announced that it will take “favourable action as legally permissible during the Supreme Court’s hearing on petitions seeking modification of its June 18 order.”
The stand of the State Government in the Supreme Court on June 18 was primarily related to thousands of Ratha Yatras taking place all over Odisha, which involved lakhs of people and held almost in every gram panchayat, the Law Department said in a press note issued late on Sunday evening. The Government clarified that the stand was taken in view of the Covid pandemic.
The Covid situation is likely to peak in the State in June and July because of the return of large number of migrants and onset of monsoon. More than five lakh people have returned to Odisha since May, most of whom are likely to complete their quarantine period by the end of June, it stated.
“The pandemic has killed lakhs of people across the globe and so far, Odisha has handled it in an efficient manner with lowest mortality rate in the country,” the Government said and added that any congregation during the probable peak period can lead to loss of lives and serious health hazards.
The Government maintained that the Supreme Court after hearing all the parties including the three intervenors passed an order, in the interest of public health and safety of citizens who are devotees, restraining the State Government from holding Rath Yatra in Odisha.
Puri King Gajapati Maharaj Dibyasingh Deb, who is also the chairman of Shree Jagannath Temple management committee, has written to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik requesting that the Rath Yatra in Puri may be held without any congregation of general public by taking appropriate steps as per Covid-19 norms. Similar views were also submitted by the intervenors in the Supreme Court during the June 18 hearing.