PURI: In the wake of the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, the Odisha government has heightened security arrangements at the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri.
Puri SP Vinit Agarwal informed the media on Saturday that a commandant, two deputy commandants, and three assistant commandants, will be engaged to oversee the security of the temple.
A directive issued by the state police headquarters in Cuttack asked the officers concerned to report for duty on April 28. The officers would be on deputation for three years, it stated.
“Apart from the commandants, eight inspectors, 31 sub-inspectors, and 24 assistant sub-inspectors would be posted to strengthen security, maintain law and order, and streamline the queue system darshan for the devotees,” the SP said, adding that police will also be deployed at the Parikrama corridor, Gundicha and Mausima temples.
“Officers having experience in anti-terrorist operations would be posted on deputation from the armed police battalion,” Agarwal said.
Though the state had resolved to post 1,083 police personnel for the Srimandir, it is likely to increase to 1,200, he said, adding that the recruitment process of personnel for this special battalion has been initiated.
Meanwhile, the ongoing repair and conservation work of both the Ratna Bhandars of the Shree Jagannath Temple will be suspended from April 29 to June 27 to facilitate the observance of several key rituals in the run-up to the Rath Yatra, said chief administrator of Sri Jagannath temple administration (SJTA) Arabinda Padhee.
Padhee chaired a meeting on the conservation of the Ratna Bhandars, in which Chhatisha Nijog president Janardan Pattajoshi, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) head of conservation work Chittranjan Das, temple officials, and senior servitors took part.
The ASI officials informed that the repair work would continue after the annual Rath Yatra. Padhee said that the restoration of the Bhitar Ratna Bhandar is nearly complete, with granite slabs being installed on the floor. In the Bahar Ratna Bhandar, nine steel box beams have already been fixed, with five more scheduled to be installed. Old corroded iron clamps have been replaced with new ones, he added.