Odisha: Puri Admn Accommodates ‘Unregistered’ Protesting Habisyalis In Govt Facilities

Puri: Hundreds of elderly women, who had been protesting over lack of logging facility after arriving in Puri to observe Kartika brata, called off their stir on Friday following a meeting with Puri Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain and former MLA Jayanta Sarangi.

Speaking to media, the collector said that they will be accommodated in the basement temporarily. “They will be provided lodging facility against vacancy if any of the registered 2,500 women fail to turn up,” he told reporters.

He said that a waiting list of the registered and unregistered Habisyalis (women who observe Kartika Brata) is also being prepared and some of the elderly women will be accommodated at Doodhwala Dharamshala. “We have limited accommodation facilities and accordingly requested people to register themselves before arriving in Puri. The capacity also came down since Bagaria Dharamsala is being used for Singhwara police station and other auxiliary facility after the inauguration of the Parikrama project. Since many have come without registration, steps are being taken to accommodate them too,” he said.

The state government has made arrangements for free food and accommodation for around 3,000 devotees at four places, including Brundabati Niwas, Mochisahi Kalyan Mandap, Akshay Patra Foundation and Bagala Dharmasala.

According to official sources, the problem arose as many devotees have come without registering in the official portal and demanded free accommodation. Several of them continued their protest outside Brundabati Niwas, spending the night in the open on Thursday after being denied accommodation.