Govt prepares for Rath Yatra with devotees

Bhubaneswar: The state government on Wednesday said it is fully prepared to conduct the Puri Rath Yatra with the likely participation of over 10 lakh devotees after two years.
Several senior IAS and IPS officers and four ministers rushed to Puri on Wednesday to take stock of the preparations for the grand festival, which will be celebrated on July 1.
Though the Covid pandemic could not disrupt the rituals of Rath Yatra in 2020 and 2021, the government had conducted the festival in a low-key manner by prohibiting the congregation of devotees in Puri.
“We are fully prepared this time. We expect a huge footfall of devotees, who will be allowed to take part in the Rath Yatra after two years. Keeping the huge congregation in mind, we have started massive preparations. The government will leave no stone unturned for the smooth conduct of the festival,” state law minister Pratap Jena said after a Rath Yatra coordination meeting.
Energy minister Dibya Shankar Mishra, information and public relations minister Raghunandan Das and electronics and information technology minister Tusharkanti Behera, State Planning Board deputy chairman Sanjay Dasburma, BJP’s Puri and Brahmagiri MLAs, Jayant Sarangi and Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, were present in the meeting.
Officials of different departments were asked to put in place all basic amenities and logistics for visitors much before the festival.
Additional director general of police (law and order) R K Sharma, who attended the meeting, said a master plan is being drawn up for an incident-free Rath Yatra.
In a related development, the government has decided to administer the precaution dose of Covid vaccine to servitors and employees of the Jagannath Temple administration ahead of Rath Yatra.