PURI: Amid the alarm over triple-mutant strain in West Bengal, the district administration has directed owners of hotels and guesthouses in Puri not to entertain visitors from the neighbouring State. Hoteliers have been asked to allow tourists from West Bengal only if they produce COVID negative report and vaccination certificate.
The move comes in wake of reports of the new variant spreading rapidly in the neighbouring State. Puri is a favourite tourist destination for West Bengal residents who flock the pilgrim town in large numbers throughout the year.
Sources said that the administration has formed a team which is inspecting hotels and holiday resorts housing Bengal tourists and examining their travel history. Registration of passengers coming through trains is also being carried at Puri railway station while visitors coming by road in private vehicles are also under watch.
The administration is likely to issue an order prohibiting cremation of bodies at Swargadwar for people outside the district. This apart, people who are not Puri residents will not be allowed to perform rituals for the dead at Mahodadhi and Swetaganga.
The restriction will be effective from Monday, sources said. After the Srimandir was closed for devotees in view of the alarming surge in COVID cases, the Sri Jagannath temple complex was sanitised. The administration has deployed fire fighters equipped with protective gears at COVID hospital and care centres.
Meanwhile, the two-day weekend shutdown in Puri town and other urban areas has shown promising results with the district’s daily positive case count coming down to 180 on Sunday as against 396 the previous day. Scared of the rapid surge in COVID-19 infections in the last couple of weeks, residents of Puri town preferred to stay indoors during the weekend shutdown.
Health insurance cover for all sevayats, families
PURI: In an important move, the Shree Jagannatha Temple Administration (SJTA) has decided to cover all sevayats of the temple and their families by a health insurance scheme. The SJTA roped in New India Assurance and approved a scheme to provide for insurance coverage of all the sevaks of the temple.
This was finalised in a meeting chaired by SJTA chairperson Dr Krishan Kumar here on Sunday. The scheme will provide a basic coverage of Rs 2 lakh per family and an additional cover of Rs 1 lakh towards critical illnesses.
All sevak families, whose number stands at about 2,500, would be covered by it. An additional cover of Rs 3 lakh for upto 25 persons for treatment of cancer and kidney transplantation will also be provided under the scheme.