BHUBANESWAR: Stringent ban nothwithstanding, ferrying of devotees from the Mancheswar ghat to the Dhabaleswar temple via country boats have been continuing unabated with the district administration turning blind to the issue.
On Monday, over three country boats were found ferrying devotees to the Dhabaleswar temple located on an island on Mahanadi river, without any safety measures in place.
With this Monday being the third Monday of the holy Kartik month, over 20,000 devotees had thronged the temple to offer their prayers to the Lord. In view of the large footfall of devotees, a platoon of police force besides Choudwar SDPO Umakant Nayak and four officers of Gurudijhatia police along with IIC Tapan Pati were stationed in and around the shrine for crowd management. However despite that, ferrying of devotees via country boats went unnoticed.
The government has constructed a concrete bridge connecting Mancheswar village in Gurudijhatia to the temple but some people still opt for country boat rides to reach the shrine so as to enjoy the beauty of Mahanadi river. But, the boatmen ferrying them often do so without wearing life jackets and taking precautions, thereby putting lives at risk. Each boat ride is priced between Rs 20 and Rs 30.
Some local residents pointed out that it happened due to absence of senior officials from the district administration to monitor the situation.
A senior official of the local administration, however, said that special attention would be given to prevent such risky boat rides in the coming days. “We will keep a tab on such activities and necessary action will be taken for violating the ban,” he added.
