Majhi stresses cooperation, coordination, communication among officers to make Rath Yatra flawless

Bhubaneswar, Jul 10 (PTI) Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday stressed on cooperation, coordination and constant communication among all officers in order to make the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath and sibling deities in Puri on July 16 hassle-free and flawless. Majhi said this while chairing a high-level meeting at Lok Seva Bhavan ahead of the mega event which is expected to witness a congregation of lakhs of devotees from across the country and abroad. The meeting, attended by Law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan, chief secretary Anu Garg, DGP Y B Khurania, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator Arabinda Padhee and others, elaborately discussed the rath yatra management. The CM said there should be proper cooperation among officials and servitors, coordination among different departments and zero gap in communication with people. Asking the authorities to keep in mind the irregularities like delay in chariot pulling, a stampede where three people died and many others were injured last year, the chief minister emphasised on punctuality, safety of chariots and devotees, crowd control and fire services. He said the rath yatra could be successfully completed with effective management by competent and experienced officers. In the meeting, the chief minister emphasised on cordon management, safety of women, surveillance of suspects and drug addicts, traffic arrangements, quality control of food and drinking water, emergency evacuation, appropriate measures considering the weather, and suggested making the entire system foolproof, an official statement said. The DGP informed the meeting that nearly 12,000 police and Central Armed Police Force personnel would be deployed for security arrangements. Along with this, the Coast Guard and Indian Navy are also on alert. As many as 19 senior IPS officers have been deployed to supervise the security arrangements for the Rath Yatra, he said. Around 473 CCTV cameras and 65 large LED screens have been arranged to provide important information to devotees and pilgrims. Information will be given in Odia, Hindi and English. At least 16 permanent and many temporary transmission towers have been arranged for the mobile network. Arrangements have also been made for providing information through bulk messaging, he said. It has also been decided that a help desk will be arranged for the divyang (physically challenged persons) and elderly devotees to facilitate 'darshan' at Sri Gundicha Temple. Many evacuation corridors have been arranged for crowd control. An integrated command and control center has been set up to control all security operations. While one senior officer is appointed for each technical work of the rath yatra. This time, 1,700 bio-toilets have been specially arranged for the rath yatra. A volunteer has been deployed to clean every 5 toilets. Similarly, 8 temporary hospitals have also been set up to provide immediate healthcare, the statement said. This year, officials said, more than 300 trains will run to Puri during the rath yatra. SJTA chief administrator Arabinda Padhee and Additional Director General of Police Soumendra Priyadarshi presented the complete details of all the arrangements in the meeting. PTI AAM AAM RG