Puri police opens feedback centre for Jagannath devotees

BHUBANESWAR: A day before the reopening of Puri Jagannath temple for all devotees, the police on Sunday set up a feedback centre for the visitors outside the shrine.
After remaining closed for devotees since April 24 in the wake of Covid second wave, the 12th century shrine first reopened for its servitors and their families on August 12 and 13. Subsequently, only the residents of Puri urban locality were allowed to offers prayers inside the temple from August 16 to 20. From Monday, the temple doors will be reopened for all—devotees from Puri and outside.
“We are committed to give the best possible services to all devotees. Special arrangements have been made to ensure safety and security of devotees at Shree Jagannath Temple. We have set up a feedback centre outside the temple’s north gate,” Puri SP, Kanwar Vishal Singh said.
Besides the manual submission of the feedback forms, devotees can also share their experience with the police through an online QR code scanning system. The police have set up QR code scanners at parking lots and some other important places where devotees can send their feedback online.
The police have deployed 10 platoons of force, 1 additional SP and 20 officers to regulate the crowd in and around the temple. The average daily footfall of devotees (Puri locals) in the Jagannath temple between August 16 and 20 was around 10,000. The police expect more arrivals from Monday.
As announced earlier, all devotees must show either RT-PCR negative report taken 96 hours before the shrine visit or final vaccination certificate for hassle-free access to the temple. The shrine will remain closed on all Saturdays and Sundays in view of the weekend shutdown in Puri. The darshan for devotees will start from 7am till 7pm on the weekdays.
The temple will also remain shut on major festive occasions, including Janmashtami on August 30 and Ganesh Chaturthi on September 10 to avoid a large congregation of devotees during the Covid-19 pandemic.