Addl Force Deployed, Sr IPS Officers Camp In Puri For Crowd Management At Jagannath Temple

Bhubaneswar: Unprecedented rush of devotees at Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri following the reopening of all its doors has prompted the Odisha government to mobilise additional force for crowd control.

Sources said some senior IPS officers have also been sent to the pilgrim town oversee crowd management in and outside the 12th century shrine.

The step was taken after Chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi held a meeting with Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena and DGP Arun Kumar Sarangi to review the ground situation in Puri.

Meanwhile, Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan is also likely to visit the pilgrim town and chair a high-level meeting there. Apart from taking stock of the preparations for the upcoming Snana Purnima of the sibling deities, he is likely to discuss the heavy rush of devotees and steps to be taken to facilitate smooth darshan at the temple.

The Law Minister has already stated that the government is committed to ensure a hassle-free darshan system and convenience of devotees at the temple.

Stating that huge numbers of devotees turned up since Friday in view of a long holiday till Monday, he said the situation is under control and government has kept a close watch.

DGP Sarangi said at least 30 platoons of force have been deployed at the temple to regulate the crowd, while ADG (law and order) Sanjay Kumar, director (intelligence) Saumendra Priyadarsi and IGP (central range) Sanjay Kaushal have been camping in Puri to monitor the crowd control system.

“We are ready with our crowd control plans. Adequate personnel have been deployed in and outside the temple to streamline the flow of devotees,” the police chief said.

As per sources, the number of visitors to the temple jumped to around two lakh daily since Friday as against a daily footfall of about 50,000 devotees on normal days. The unprecedented rush was witnessed particularly after the government threw open all four gates of the temple on Thursday.

A temple official said that a large number of devotees from across the state and outside turned up daily after all the doors of the shrine were opened. This led to a huge rush in the temple.

Speaking to media persons in the town, Puri SP Pinak Mishra said generally the number of devotees at the temple goes up two to three times on weekends and the days of festivals. “We appeal to the people, who are coming on those days, to have patience and wait for their turns while standing in queues to enter the temple. Since the security of the devotees outside the temple is our top priority, we seek their cooperation in this regard,” he said.

In view of Raja festival, an unusual gathering of devotees was found for darshan of sibling deities in the Pilgrim Town. Thousands of devotees from different parts of the state and neighbouring states lined up before all four gates of the temple.