BHUBANESWAR : The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has decided to set up a temporary first aid centre in an air-conditioned container near Srimandir to attend to medical emergencies of devotees and servitors. A decision to this effect has been taken by SJTA Chief Administrator Dr Krishan Kumar during a meeting recently.
The first aid centre has been developed by OBCC and will start functioning from April 14. It will be manned by an adequate number of medical staff and stocked with sufficient medical supplies with the help of Puri administration and district headquarters hospital.
The SJTA has decided to engage volunteers (paramedical staff) for the centre who will be deployed in two shifts and help in shifting emergency patients to the DHH. Two ambulances will be made available at the centre for shifting of patients to DHH. Both SJTA and the CDMO will appoint one nodal officer each for smooth functioning of the first-aid centre, said the Chief Administrator.
Apart from the first-aid centre, the Puri administration will set up a special centre for vaccination of all the sevayats of the Srimandir. The district administration and CDMO will also organise special programmes and events to raise awareness among servitors about vaccination and precautions against Covid-19 to check spread of the infection, informed officials.
Temple likely to close for devotees on Saturdays
Puri: In view of the surge in Covid-19 cases in the district, Puri Collector Samarth Verma held a meeting with senior servitors of Sri Jagannath Temple to discuss closure of the shrine for devotees on Saturdays. Currently, the temple is closed for devotees on Sundays for sanitisation apart from the bi-weekly disinfection of the shrine after late night rituals. Verma asked the servitors and security personnel of the temple to enforce Covid guidelines strictly. Several teams have been formed to ensure strict adherence to the safety norms by the devotees. Till Wednesday, the district had reported 43 Covid cases.