PURI: State Law Minister Jagannath Saraka on Saturday reviewed preparations for the Rath Yatra with all concerned officials, engineers and servitors of Sri Jagannath temple in Puri. The Car festival is scheduled on June 20.
The meeting discussed on timely observance of daily rituals and emphasised on completion of sanitation work, improving health and hygiene condition, providing drinking water and continuous supply of power in the town.
Construction of chariots for the deities is progressing steadily, the meeting was informed. On the other hand, chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Ranjan Kumar Das said the 3,000 metre special cloth for draping the chariots has been procured from Gujarat while 300 kg sandalwood from Tamil Nadu is on way.
East Coast Railway (ECoR) will run 210 trains to Puri during the festival. The meeting further directed the road transport authorities to regulate passenger bus traffic and fix the fares from different destinations to Puri. Besides, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was directed to repair all existing roads.
Crowd control and management, regulation of vehicular traffic and maintenance of law and order were also discussed. The forest department informed that a detailed database on Jagannath Bana Prakalp has been prepared.
While the entire town will be under CCTV coverage monitored from an integrated control centre, adequate number of police personnel will be deployed at crucial locations. Minister of State for School and Mass Education Sameer Ranjan Dash, Puri collector-cum-district magistrate Samarth Verma among others were present in the meeting. The first meeting for the purpose was held on April 11. The final meeting will be conducted by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as per the ‘Ratha code’.